Who is Enzo Fernandez? Everything to know about Chelsea's £106.8m midfielder from Benfica

Premier League giants Chelsea dominated the January transfer window as they spent more than $350 million. After signing Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk for a whopping £88.5m ($108 million) from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Blues went on to break the British transfer record by signing Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a staggering 106.7 million pounds ($131.4 million) on deadline day. Here is a detailed look at who is Chelsea's new record signing.

Who is Enzo Fernandez?

Even though Enzo Fernandez only joined Benfica from Argentine club River Plate this past August for a reported fee of just around $10 million, his profile was boosted by his performances in the recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2022. The 22-year-old started every game through to the final and was also voted as the best young player at the tournament.

Chelsea successfully managed to sign Fernandez after they agreed to pay the release clause in his contract after a day of negotiations between Benfica and the co-owners of the Premier League club. The fee of 106.7 million pounds paid by the Blues for the Argentine midfielder is a new British transfer record as it goes past the 100 million pounds (then $139 million) that Manchester City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish.

Chelsea will hope their new signings help boost club's results

Chelsea have spent more this month than every club has in the top leagues in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France combined. And following a big outlay in Europe’s summer transfer window, the Blues have splashed out around $630 million in the first two windows overseen by the new ownership — fronted by Todd Boehly — since the purchase of the club for $2.5 billion in May.

The Blues signed eight players in January and handed most of them long contracts — as much as 8 1/2 years for Fernandez, for example — to allow the club to spread the cost of the signings over the length of the deals and comply with financial fair-play regulations. With Chelsea currently in tenth place in the Premier League, they will hope that the new signings can help the club get into the European spots.

(Inputs from AP)