Chelsea in Enzo Fernandez transfer blow as Benfica look to increase his buyout clause by £27m to £132m

CHELSEA’S pursuit of Enzo Fernandez is set to take a colossal hit as Benfica try to increase his release clause to £132million, reports suggest.

The Blues submitted a significant offer to the Portuguese giants to try and bring Fernandez to Stamford Bridge earlier in the window.

However, the structure of the deal Chelsea offered was not acceptable to Benfica – even though one offer went above Fernandez’s current release clause.

After the breakdown of talks, which Benfica manager Roger Schmidt branded “disrespectful”, the club are now said to be trying to raise the release clause.

Portuguese outlet Record report the club want to increase the clause by £27m to take it up to £132m.

The report suggests they want to do this in order to fend off interest in the star.

But this is unlikely to deter Chelsea, who are considering another approach for the World Cup winner before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

Earlier today, Malo Gusto was announced as Chelsea’s SEVENTH January signing.

And with the defender’s acquisition, Todd Boehly has now allowed £222m to be spent in the winter window alone.

The total outlay of transfers under the Boehly-Clearlake ownership now stands at almost £500m.

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Last week it was reported that Chelsea had launched a new offensive to try and land Fernandez.

The deal reported package included £88m plus players,

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk