Last day of the transfer market… Man Utd make an emergency signing
Jorginho from Chelsea to Arsenal… Kangin Lee Remains
▲ Enso Fernandez (file photo) set the record for the highest transfer fee in EPL history when he moved from Benfica, Portugal, to Chelsea. AFP Yonhap News
Enso Fernandez (22, Argentina), who emerged as a star by winning the Young Player Award at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, set a new record for the highest transfer fee ever in the English Premier League (EPL) and wore a Chelsea uniform.
The BBC and Sky Sports reported simultaneously that Chelsea and Benfica (Portugal) had reached a final agreement on the transfer of Fernandez just before the winter transfer window deadline at 8:00 am (Korean time) on the 1st. The transfer fee is known to reach 105.6 million pounds (approximately 160 billion won). Chelsea and Benfica agreed on the size of the transfer fee early this month as soon as the transfer market opened, but the final decision was delayed due to disagreements regarding the installment payment. While reconciling the differences, Fernandez conducted a medical test in Portugal, not England.
The previous EPL record was 100 million pounds (approximately 151.9 billion won) recorded by Jack Grealish (28), who changed his uniform from Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021.
Manchester United urgently recruited Austrian national team midfielder Marcel Sabitzer (29) from Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga on the deadline day of the transfer window. Denmark national team Christian Eriksen, who recently suffered an ankle injury, hastily moved to fill the void as he is expected to leave for a long time until April or May. This is a short term rental until June.
EPL leader Arsenal brought in midfielder Jorginho (32), who spent four and a half years at Chelsea. The transfer fee is 12 million pounds (approximately 18.3 billion won) for the contract period of 1 year and 6 months (including a 1-year extension option). Born in Brazil but moved to Italy as a child, he also won Euro 2020 as a member of the Italian national team.
Tottenham, which has strengthened its air defense by signing Arnaut Danjuma (26) from Villarreal (Spain) and Pedro Poro (24) from Sporting (Portugal), have Brian Hill (22) and Jed Spencer (23) each with Stade Rennes. (France), loaned to Seville (Spain). Also, the contract with Matt Doherty (31) was terminated by mutual agreement, but Doherty went straight to Atletico Madrid (Spain).
On the other hand, Lee Kang-in (22), who had been constantly receiving love calls for transfer, ended up staying in Mallorca, Spain.
Reporter Hong Ji-min