Chelsea fans find ‘proof’ Enzo Fernandez transfer is close

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 31 Jan 2023 12:09 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea are expected to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica on transfer Deadline Day, but they have been left with just a matter of hours to get the deal over the line.

The Blues have been chasing Enzo as one of their leading priorities throughout the month but have struggled to reach an agreement over his fee with the Portuguese club.

Although Chelsea have offered €120 million to match the player’s release fee, the exact terms the Blues have presented are not the same as those in Enzo’s contract. As such, the clause has not been triggered and is down to the discretion of Benfica president Rui Costa whether the deal is accepted or not.

Personal terms with the player have already been agreed, with a long-term contract in place, and Enzo reportedly only wants to move to Chelsea for the time being.

Flight logs hint at Enzo deal

Despite the impasse, Blues fans remain optimistic that a deal will be sealed before the transfer deadline thanks to some online sleuthing.

Supporters have spotted flight logs that show there is a return trip planned from Farnborough, beside Chelsea’s training base, to Lisbon, the Portuguese city that Benfica are based.

Interestingly, the plane that will be used for the trip is the same one that Chelsea used when Joao Felix’s loan deal was sealed from Atletico Madrid earlier this month. The same plane was also in Amsterdam a day before Noni Madueke’s move to Chelsea from PSV was announced.

The Blues have had an extremely busy January, signing David Datro Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto, but the central midfield role is one that they had earmarked as important at the start of the month and have yet to fill.

If Chelsea get Enzo over the line in the closing hours of Deadline Day, it would complete another remarkable transfer window for Todd Boehly’s club.