MANCHESTER City’s desperation to bring in midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea not only ends the summer’s longest running transfer saga, but highlights the English Premiership football club’s determination to get the deal done for manager Enzo Maresca’s top target.
City have paid a joint-British record £125m deal for the Argentina international to break their club record transfer fee for the second time this summer following the £116m arrival of Elliot Anderson.
City had to overcome numerous obstacles to finalise a difficult deal during the 79-day transfer window, from being set deadlines to complete the deal and the backdrop of former Chelsea boss Maresca’s acrimonious appointment as their manager.
But shelling out a joint-British record fee showcased City’s perseverance to acquire their man and those upstairs at Etihad Stadium have shown unequivocal faith to both player and manager.
City have started the season with back-to-back English Premier League wins and Fernandez’s arrival means he becomes the first player in football history to move for more than £100m twice after going to Chelsea from Benfica for £107m in 2023.
The 25-year-old also joins a unique trio of players that have broken the British transfer record twice in their careers during the Premier League era along with former England internationals Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand.
All that means City’s acquisition of Fernandez matches the amount paid by Liverpool to Newcastle for striker Alexander Isak on the same day last summer.
How have City pulled off the biggest deal of the summer despite a seemingly bitter relationship with Chelsea following the appointment of Maresca as manager earlier this summer?
When Maresca was appointed as Pep Guardiola’s replacement in June, the Italian apologised to his former club Chelsea for the “disruption” caused by his mid-season departure.
Senior City sources had told BBC Sport at the time that they held no ill feeling towards Chelsea and that the now-resolved contractual dispute was between the Stamford Bridge club and Maresca. And that has played out in this deal happening. The manager was the key factor in this blockbuster deal with Maresca keen to reunite with his former Chelsea skipper.
It is understood Maresca wanted Fernandez as someone who he can fully trust and rely on, a player that is familiar with the manager’s instructions, the patterns of play and does not need to be learn how to operate in the middle of the park in the system.
The 46-year-old had a similar approach when being appointed as Chelsea manager in 2023, signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall having worked with the player at Leicester during their Championship-winning campaign.
Looking back on last Friday’s pre-match news conference, Maresca had hinted at a late incoming by saying he was hoping to add “a captain” to his squad before the end of the transfer window.
City have lost the experience of Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri this summer, with Ruben Dias taking the captain’s armband and Erling Haaland being part of the leadership group.
Fernandez adds big-game know-how to City’s midfield after winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, being named young player of the tournament, and helping his country to a second-straight final in July.
His antics during the summer may not make him a universally popular figure but Fernandez comes across as a player that teammates love to have alongside them and one that gets under the skin of the opposition players and supporters.
City had been interested in signing Chelsea’s Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto earlier this summer but were seemingly put off by the respective asking prices and, at that stage, Fernandez was not a player that Maresca had necessarily asked the hierarchy to sign.
However, the departures of Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez meant there was a gaping hole left in the middle of the park that needed filling. Eyebrows were raised when Maresca deployed centre-back Marc Guehi in a holding midfield role in the opening game against Bournemouth, with the player himself saying he was surprised by the change in position. That alteration came about as the deal for Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi had not been completed, so Guehi played alongside fellow England international Anderson.
The ownership have now splashed out £125m on Fernandez and deemed it as being worth the hefty fee for their new manager — they can also point to delivering a player who could be the final tool needed for Maresca and his men to challenge on all four fronts this season. Though City claimed a domestic cup double in Guardiola’s final season in charge, they fell short in the Premier League and Champions League so Maresca will now be under pressure to fare better in both of those competitions.
Under Maresca at Chelsea, Fernandez helped the club win the 2025 Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup later that summer but noises emerged at the start of this year about him wanting to leave.
It began once Maresca left Stamford Bridge in January and two months later, following Chelsea’s Champions League exit, Fernandez said he did not know whether he would be at the club next season. His first choice was to join Real Madrid but the La Liga giants never came in with an offer, feeling the Premier League midfielder was overpriced.
New Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso spoke to Fernandez this summer in an attempt to try and change his mind and for him to stay, but the player’s heart was set on leaving. — BBC Sport
