Enzo Fernandez: Chelsea ridiculed over serious transfer mistake as Boehly is told why Man Utd star is superior

The deadline day signing of Enzo Fernandez by Chelsea for a British record £106.8m has been destroyed by one observer, who has named two players currently in the Premier League who cost less and are already vastly superior.

The Blues have lavished some incredible money about both this January and previously in the summer. Indeed, with nine new signings arriving in the summer window, to the cost of around £280m, it was hard to see how Chelsea could top that. Somehow, that’s exactly what they did do, with a spree touching £300m sanctioned in the winter window.

That scattergun approach has come in for strong criticism in the past from Gary Neville. And, according to a report on Wednesday, those actions will also put paid to their prospects of securing a top England star this summer.

The Blues of course did manage to save the biggest deal of them all until last. And with their long-winded chase for Fernandez finally bearing fruit, Chelsea were forced to shatter the British transfer record in the process.

Incredibly, the Blues are paying an astronomical £106.8m (€120m) to sign Fernandez from Benfica.

The Portuguese giants – who only cashed in on Darwin Nunez to Liverpool for a potential £75m fee this summer – are quids again once again.

But the signing brutally exposes Chelsea’s wrecklessness in the transfer market. Indeed, the World Cup winner only left River Plate for the Lisbon outfit six months ago for a fee of around £9.5m.

Quite where and how his value has shot up so significantly in that short space of time is anyone’s guess.

READ MORE: The 20 biggest moves of the January 2023 transfer window

Danny Murphy ridicules Chelsea over Enzo Fernandez fee

And assessing the fee paid by the Blues, pundit Danny Murphy reckons they’ve been “bent over”.

Murphy has also named two current players operating in the same position who are vastly superior to the Argentine.

“Chelsea are overpaying for players, I still don’t think the majority of their first XI gets anywhere near Man City’s team,” Murphy told talkSPORT.

“I’ve watched Enzo Fernandez live and he’s decent, but he’s not £100m. They’ve been absolutely bent over there. He’s a good midfielder, he’s tenacious, he’s young, he gets on the ball and he’s brave.

“But he’s not Casemiro, he’s not Rodri. They’re overspending on players, clubs are seeing Chelsea come and they’re basically just pulling their pants down.”

In addition to Fernandez, Chelsea also shelled out huge fees on Mykhaylo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto and Noni Madueke. And two of those feature in our top 10 worst value for money January signings.

Fellow pundit Rio Ferdinand, however, reckons Fernandez is a brilliant coup for Chelsea.

Ferdinand said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel: “Bad player, wicked player! He’s got it. He’s a good player. I’d be surprised if he comes in and isn’t a success.

“He’s a top player. He was the best young player at the tournament in the World Cup I thought. He was integral for them.

“His passing, his composure for a young player was top and he won’t be fazed if he handled the World Cup the way he did.

“He played at Benfica a big club in that country and the demands at the club, he’s used to pressure. The money is irrelevant if you look at it and think he could be here for five or six years. Chelsea are on a mad one.”

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