Chelsea confident British record bid for Enzo Fernandez will be accepted

The Blues have been in pursuit of the Argentine star after his impressive displays at the World Cup and are keen to add him to the squad this month.

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They had an approach for him turned earlier in the month and there was a belief that the move wouldn't happen, but Chelsea have renewed their interest.

TalkSPORT understands that Graham Potter's side are now set to make a record bid by a British club of £105 million to sign Fernandez and Benfica are aware that the midfielder could still make a move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are confident of getting a deal over the line for the player and negotiations are ongoing about the structure of the payment that will be made to Benfica.

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Todd Boehly reportedly wants to make one large payment followed by five later payments in a bid to get around Financial Fair Play regulations.

The fact that Fernandez has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea has given the Blues faith that a deal can be concluded soon.

Roger Schmidt, the Benfica manager, spoke on the situation: "While the transfer window is open, we have to be prepared for anything. We all know that there is this situation with Enzo, who has a release clause and, if there is a club that pays it, it is a lot of money, we cannot prevent it.

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"If that happens, we will have to be prepared and find solutions. At the moment, Enzo is still our player and we'll see what happens until the end of the market. When the transfer window closes I will be very happy, we will be able to focus completely again on playing in the best way until the end of the season.

"He's our player and he has all the support. As I said before, he is a great person and a great player. While the market is open you always have to wait for something to happen, we know how the football business works. That's all I can say on this subject."