Manchester City have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign Enzo Fernandez for £125m (€146m), matching the British record transfer fee Liverpool paid Newcastle United for Alexander Isak last summer.
The move completes City’s expensive midfield rebuild and will see Fernandez reunite with Enzo Maresca at the Etihad.
Fernandez has sat out Chelsea’s last two games as he has looked for a move after being booed by both sets of fans on what could prove his last appearance for them, the 3-2 win over Fulham.
Chelsea had tried to set a deadline of 5pm on August 14 for clubs to bid for Fernandez as they tried to get his future resolved but, while City did not submit an offer then, they have done on the last day of the transfer window.
But Chelsea still wanted to replace Fernandez as they pursued Manu Kone of Roma and Lamine Camara of Monaco.
City are also trying to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for an initial £60m, and bringing in the Senegal international and Fernandez would take their summer spending to around £430m.
They have already broken their transfer record once this summer, with the £116m arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, and will spend more than £320m on their midfield, with Ayyoub Bouaddi also arriving from Lille for £85m.
Fernandez cost Chelsea a then record £107m when he joined from Benfica in January 2023 and went on to score 31 goals in 170 games for them.
The 25-year-old was critical of Chelsea after the sacking of Maresca and stayed in contact with the Italian after he left Stamford Bridge.