Man City sign Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for £125m

Manchester City have completed a joint-British record £125m signing of Enzo Fernández from Chelsea, ending the longest-running transfer saga of the summer on deadline day.

The fee matches what Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak on the same day last year, and takes City's spending in a single window to a Premier League record £458m, above Liverpool's £415m from last summer. City have also recouped around £300m from player sales this year.

Fernández, 25, becomes the first player in football history to move for more than £100m twice, having joined Chelsea from Benfica for a then-British record £107m in 2023. Only Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand had previously broken the British transfer record twice during the Premier League era. He signs a five-year deal and becomes City's second club-record buy of the summer, after the £116m arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

The move follows a fraught final day for Chelsea, who had been trying to agree a deal with Monaco for Lamine Camara as a replacement. Chelsea had a written agreement in place for the Senegal midfielder, only for Monaco to pull out as the deadline approached; sources described the French club's conduct as "deeply unprofessional". The collapse did not stop Chelsea proceeding with the sale of Fernández.

City strengthened elsewhere on the same day, signing Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for up to £65m. The Fernández deal alone brings City's outlay on midfielders this summer to £327m, following the arrivals of Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille.

Fernández had fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks. He was booed by Chelsea supporters during a friendly against Real Sociedad and again after coming on as a substitute at Fulham, and he was left out of the squad entirely for the 4-3 win over Brighton and the Carabao Cup victory against Luton, with reports in Argentina suggesting he had asked not to be involved. In an open letter posted on Instagram, he told Chelsea: "these have not been easy days for me," adding that the club would "always be in my heart".

Speaking after his move to City was confirmed, Fernández turned to the challenge ahead.

Manager Enzo Maresca, who left Chelsea to take over at City in June amid an acrimonious exit, gets his top target after a 79-day chase. City have opened the season with back-to-back Premier League wins, and Fernández's arrival gives Maresca the midfielder he pushed hardest for since taking charge.

He arrives with competition for places already fierce, after City spent £327m on Anderson and Bouaddi alongside him this summer. Asked about meeting that challenge, he said: