600 million mark cracked
After a month of back and forth between Chelsea and Benfica Lisbon, the Blues see it as done on Deadline Day: Enzo Fernández (22) leaves Portugal’s league leaders at the last minute, according to the club’s announcement, for 121 million euros in the direction of London in tenth place in the Premier League and breaks several records. The medical check was carried out in Lisbon due to time constraints before the long-term contract was signed until 2031. The transfer fee must sea Fabrizio Romano be paid off in six installments, starting with 40 million euros.
The Blues’ transfer spending this season has risen to over EUR 600 million – for comparison: all Bundesliga clubs together invested EUR 555 million in 2022/23, just like all LaLiga clubs in total. Up until this winter, no club in the history of football had spent over €400m on transfers in one season. Chelsea are bringing new dimensions off the pitch with new owner Todd Boehly. So does Fernández, because never before has so much been paid for a midfielder.
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The fee paid for the world champion seems even more insane when you consider that Benfica bought him from training club River Plate on July 14, 2022 for just 14 million euros. The Argentines also secured a resale share of 25 percent, so the tills are ringing in Buenos Aires with 30 million euros. Fernandez is the most expensive signing in Premier League history after his transfer, the most expensive midfielder and the most expensive Argentine footballer ever. There were only five changes where more money flowed.
Despite the rain of money, this departure has a bitter aftertaste for Benfica, because they actually wanted to keep the Argentine until the summer in order to get the most out of the championship and Champions League. The search for a replacement for the midfielder is also no longer necessary on Deadline Day.
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At club level, the investments made by the US owners around club boss Boehly are unique. In the summer, together with coach Thomas Tuchel, eight new players were brought in, including Raheem Sterling (28), Kalidou Koulibaly (31) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (33) for EUR 282 million before Tuchel parted ways in September. Graham Potter was signed as a replacement for a fee of around EUR 17.5 million, and he now got eight more players for EUR 328.5 million in the winter.
2022/23
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Winter transfers such as Mykhaylo Mudryk (22), Benoît Badiashile (21), Noni Madueke (20) and Andrey Santos (18) were also given unusually long contracts until 2030 and 2031, respectively, in order to have the chance to transfer the transfer fees paid over a to write off for a longer period of time. A stylistic device that is often used in US sports and is criticized by many in Europe. “Financial fair play is starting to take a beating and that will limit the ability to sign players at any cost,” Boehly said in July 2022 (quoted via “ESPN“) shortly before the biggest shopping spree in football history.
Chelsea in a new dimension: Highest transfer spend in a season
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