Argentina’s No24 was not noted of the group for his or her shock opening defeat to Saudi Arabia, however ended the event as famous person. Watching on have been Boehly and Eghbali, who rapidly recognized the 22-year-old midfielder as their high switch goal.Alongside new Chelsea head of recruitment Paul Winstanley, Eghbali requested super-agent Jorge Mendes to assist pull off the largest switch deal in British soccer historical past. The pursuit of Fernandez was backed up by recruitment analyst Kyle Macauley and technical director Christopher Vivell again residence. Collectively, they cooed over his knowledge profile for Benfica and Argentina.Mendes’s connections to Benfica executives helped kick-start negotiations and it was not lengthy earlier than Fernandez agreed on a transfer to Stamford Bridge. He was gained over by an out-of-the-box presentation concerning the imaginative and prescient of the brand new Chelsea house owners, which helped win over all eight of their January signings.Enzo Fernandez instantly caught the attention on the World Cup. / Getty ImagesTerms over an eight-and-a-half-year contract with Fernandez have been rapidly agreed by means of long-term agent Uriel Perez, however Benfica didn’t wish to lose a participant they signed from River Plate simply six months earlier for £16million.A transfer from Chelsea to pay the switch price in instalments or embody gamers like Hakim Ziyech in a swap deal have been initially rebuffed. Fernandez made an unsanctioned journey to Argentina and missed two coaching classes as he tried to push by means of a transfer, however negotiations stalled.Benfica have been livid with the best way Chelsea approached the deal, relations between the golf equipment grew to become strained and Benfica president Rui Costa demanded they pay his £105m buy-out clause in full. Chelsea weren’t keen to pay the price in a single giant sum, as they bid to remain in keeping with Monetary Truthful Play laws. They explored different choices, together with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and Everton’s Amadou Onana, but it surely was determined that in the event that they have been going to spend large, it ought to be on their first-choice choice.READ MOREAfter additional encouragement from agent Perez, and Mendes’s skill to ease tensions, talks restarted late final week. What adopted was a frantic three days of negotiations. Benfica have been comfortable for talks to go proper to the wire in a bid to squeeze the very best deal. Throughout the Eleventh-hour discussions, Fernandez underwent a medical in Lisbon. Chelsea had a personal jet ready to carry him to London and legal professionals working to finish the transfer.Chelsea put a lot give attention to Fernandez that different offers suffered. Hakim Ziyech was set to hitch Paris Saint-Germain on mortgage, however the deal collapsed as a result of documentation was not submitted in time. Omari Hutchinson’s mortgage to West Brom fell by means of and Hull’s bid to signal to signal Xavier Simons was delayed till the summer season.After insisting they might not be held to ransom, Chelsea ultimately paid greater than Fernandez’s buyout clause, agreeing a deal value £106.8m. However, crucially, it permits them to pay the price in instalments, with an preliminary price of round £34m.Chelsea went above and past to signal Fernandez, however imagine they’ve a participant who will carry the membership and be a mainstay for the following decade.