Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were convinced to splash the cash after laying eyes on the player in Qatar
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have explained for the first time why they broke the British transfer record to sign Enzo Fernandez.
The 22-year-old World Cup winner was on Wednesday finally confirmed as the Blues’ new £106.8m signing – breaking both the club and national transfer record in the process.
Standard Sport understands both Boehly and Eghbali first decided to sign Fernandez after seeing him in the flesh in Qatar, embarking on weeks of tough negotiations with Benfica before an agreement with just minutes of the January transfer window to go.
Fernandez in his first interview as a Chelsea player acknowledged the huge sum spent to bring him to Stamford Bridge, and now those who are in charge of the piggy bank have explained why they did it.
“In Enzo we are signing a World Cup-winner and one of the brightest talents in global football,” Boehly and Eghbali explained in a joint statement.
“We are excited to add him to Graham’s [Potter, manager] squad and we are sure he will form an important part of our team going forward.
“Enzo has demonstrated his ability at the very highest levels so we’re looking forward to seeing what he will do in Chelsea blue!”
Fernandez could make his debut against Fulham on Friday evening.
[READ NEXT] Joao Felix’s sends message to Enzo Fernandez on Instagram after his move to Chelsea is confirmed
Joao Felix has taken to Instagram to welcome new Chelsea teammate Enzo Fernandez to the club.
Felix took to Instagram to comment fire emojis on Fernandez’s first post as a Chelsea player.
The window really got underway last month with the addition of the Atletico Madrid man on loan.
Despite already signing a number of young stars, the club were well aware that they needed to strengthen the starting 11 if they were to somewhat save this season.
They probably weren’t planning for how his debut went down though. The Portugal international really impressed in the first hour against Fulham before he was sent off for a rash challenge.
He is still currently banned for one more game, which will be the return fixture against their West London rivals.
The game could see the debut of Fernandez, especially with no Jorginho at the club anymore.
The Italy international was set to leave at the end of the season, and the club rightfully believed that an offer the magnitude of Arsenal’s was too good to turn down at this stage.
SOURCE: standard.co.uk, thechelseachronicle.com
