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Fans Can’t Believe Chelsea Extended Enzo Fernandez’s Contract 3 Months After He Joined The Club
Chelsea have reportedly decided to extend Enzo Fernandez’s contract barely three months after he joined the club to keep him at club until 2032 according to reports in his native Argentina.
The Blues signed Fernandez after his stunning showing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He starred for Argentina as they won the tournament, with the 22-year-old winning the Best Young Player award.
A host of clubs expressed an interest before Chelsea secured his services for a whopping £107 million.
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As with most of Chelsea’s signings under their new ownership, Fernandez penned an eight-and-a-half year contract until 2031 with the club amortising the transfer fee over the duration of the contract to get around Financial Fair Play rules.
Chelsea included an option to extend the World Cup winner’s contract by a further year – which, according to reliable TyC Sports journalist Cesar Luis Merlo, they have now triggered.
The move will keep Fernandez at Stamford Bridge until June 2032, making it the longest contractual agreement in world football.
Chelsea may have decided to trigger the extension now before UEFA change the rules over contracts to remove the loophole the west London club’s new owners have been exploiting.
European football’s governing body are believed to be planning to impose a five-year limit on contracts, preventing clubs from spreading out the costs of transfers over such mammoth periods of time.
In the case of Fernandez, for example, his transfer fee spread out over the course of nine-and-a-half seasons would work out at around £11m per season – which is a far more manageable sum.
UEFA’s ruling is likely to come into effect before the summer transfer window, so Chelsea may decide to trigger the same clause with other players on long deals such as Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile.
Fernandez has impressed enormously since joining Chelsea despite the club’s struggles and interim boss Frank Lampard believes the Argentine can step up and become a real leader for the club.
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According to Argentine journalist Cesar Luis Merlo, who claims Chelsea ‘made use of the option it had’ regarding Fernandez.
So, he’s contracted to the Premier League side until 2032 and fans online can’t believe the length of the deal.
One Twitter user wrote: “Chelsea proving why they are a banter club these days.”
A second tweeted: “As if Chelsea FC couldn’t get any more bonkers.”
A third added: “What on earth is going on at that football club.”
A fourth said: “These people are INSANE.”
Another commented: “I know Chelsea said that they didn’t want contracts to go under 2 years but extending an 8 year deal to a 9 year one seems excessive.”
Chelsea, now under the management of Frank Lampard following the sacking of Graham Potter, languish in the bottom half of the league table.
They’re also out of the FA Cup and trail Real Madrid 2-0 following Wednesday night’s defeat in the Champions League.
Despite the club’s miserable season, Fernandez has been somewhat of a bright spot, having shown glimpses of brilliance.
Chelsea can look forward to many, many more seasons of Fernandez following claims he’s extended his deal by another year.
What’s your take on Chelsea extending Fernandez’s contract just after 3 months? Let us know in the comment section below.