Chelsea have chosen to extend Enzo Fernandez’s contract barely three months after he joined the club, according to sources in his home Argentina.
The 22-year-old came to Stamford Bridge on deadline day in a Premier League record £107million signing from Benfica.
As with most of Chelsea’s signings under their new ownership, Fernandez wrote an eight-and-a-half year contract until 2031 with the club amortising the transfer fee over the term of the contract to get around Financial Fair Play restrictions.
Chelsea added an option to extend the World Cup winner’s contract by a further year – which, according to reliable TyC Sports writer Cesar Luis Merlo, they have already exercised.
The move will keep Fernandez at Stamford Bridge until June 2032, making it the longest contractual commitment in world football.
Chelsea may have opted to trigger the extension now before UEFA amend the regulations over contracts to remove the loophole the west London club’s new owners have been exploiting.
European football’s governing body are thought to be seeking to set a five-year cap on contracts, preventing clubs from spreading out the price of transfers over such vast amounts of time.
In the instance of Fernandez, for example, his transfer fee stretched out over the period of nine-and-a-half seasons would work out at about £11m per season – which is a lot more reasonable sum.
UEFA’s judgement is likely to come into force before the summer transfer window, thus Chelsea may elect to trigger the similar clause with other players on extended deals such as Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile.
Fernandez has impressed greatly since joining Chelsea despite the team’s troubles and interim boss Frank Lampard feels the Argentine can step up and become a real leader for the club.
‘Enzo is becoming a leader, but he’s 22, I believe it’s rather tough for us to talk about that, he’ll have to find his way,’ stated the caretaker coach prior to meeting Real Madrid in the Champions League.
‘Games like [the quarter-final first-leg game at the Bernabeu] are a terrific chance to perform and demonstrate the personality that makes you a proper leader.’
Responding to his manager’s comments, Fernandez said: ‘I always aspire to be a leader because when I started, I always wanted to be an example. To be characterized like that so young makes me incredibly proud. I always do my best and aim to be an example for everyone.’
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