Key reasons for Chelsea’s urgency to seal Enzo Fernandez deal in January amid UEFA decision to end transfer loophole

Chelsea are extremely keen to sign Enzo Fernandez this month instead of waiting until the summer, and the two major reasons have been revealed.

Talks remain ongoing on Monday between Chelsea and Benfica for the 22-year-old, with Graham Potter hoping to get a deal agreed and sealed before Tuesday’s 11pm transfer deadline.

Discussions have advanced in recent days, as reported by The Athletic, following the help of agent Jorge Mendes.

Fernandez, who is open to a move but won’t force a transfer, is waiting patiently to find out where his future lies ahead of the second half of the season.

Chelsea officials are ready to head to Portugal to wrap up talks with the Portuguese club, who are remaining firm on their desire of wanting Fernandez’s €120 million release clause triggered.

Todd Boehly and Co are trying to agree a deal up to the same amount, however they want to structure the deal across a number of payments instead of paying the full fee in one lump sum.

Chelsea could wait until the summer to try to sign Fernandez, but there are two major reasons why the Blues want to finalise the transfer in January, as revealed by The Times.

The first reason is Boehly was prepared to delay a switch until it was reported UEFA would bring an end to the contract loophole which Chelsea have taken advantage of.

UEFA will restrict player amortisation to a maximum length of five-years after Chelsea completed many deals on contracts which exceeded seven years to spread the cost of the transfer out to ease any Financial Fair Play pressures.

Concerns were raised by a number of clubs which led to UEFA reviewing the amortisation allowance.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are also aware that competition from a number of top European clubs for Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, who are both club targets, will be rife in the summer.

Chelsea, therefore, want to ensure they are able to bring in a world-class midfielder of their own prior to the summer window to reduce the pressure of trying to sign Rice or Bellingham.

The likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid are all likely to want at least one of Fernandez, Rice and Bellingham.

It’s now over to Chelsea to whether or not they can finalise a deal for Fernandez by Tuesday night.