Enzo Fernandez has finally signed for Chelsea, becoming the Premier League's record signing after the Blues met his £106.8million (€121m) release clause at Benfica.
Fernandez, who was named Young Player of the Tournament after helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup, was strongly linked with Chelsea earlier in the transfer window before talks broke down.
However, the big-spending Blues went back in for him with the end of the window drawing closer, signing Fernandez to a long-term contract – rumoured to run until 2032 – with confirmation arriving an hour and a half after the transfer window closed.
Chelsea submitted the relevant paperwork in time and Benfica were first to announce details of the deal on their official website on Wednesday.
His arrival takes Chelsea's spending to a reported £288.5m (€328.5m) this month alone, with the midfielder becoming their eighth signing of the January transfer window.
Fernandez only joined Benfica from River Plate last year but has played a starring role for them since making that move, helping the Portuguese giants top their Champions League group.
He had looked likely to remain in Lisbon at least until the end of the season, but Chelsea revisited the deal with head coach Graham Potter reportedly keen for midfield reinforcements.
The fee surpasses the previous Premier League transfer record, set by Jack Grealish's £100m switch from Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021.
Fernandez could make his Chelsea debut against Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Friday, as the Blues look to climb the table after a poor run of form saw them drop to 10th position.
A dogged competitor with an eye for the magnificent, Fernandez featured in all seven of Argentina's games in Qatar, starting five of them after he came off the bench to net a superb goal against Mexico in the group stage.
Fernandez's ability on the ball, as well as his tenacity, will add a new facet to Potter's midfield options.
Only 11 players carried the ball further than Fernandez (1,239.7 metres) at the World Cup, while just 10 were involved in more shot-ending sequences than his 27.
Fernandez boasted a duel success rate of 58.8 per cent, winning 40 of his 68 engagements at the tournament.
He made just 17 league appearances during his short stint with Benfica, though he also featured in five group games in the Champions League.
Barcelona coach Giraldez celebrates 'one of the happiest days' after Women's Champions League triumph
Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez celebrated "one of the happiest days" of his life after his side claimed the Women's Champions League title.
Giraldez led Barca to a 2-0 victory over fellow heavyweights Lyon in Bilbao on Saturday.
Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas got the goals in the second half, as Barca beat Lyon for the first time and won the Champions League for a third season out of the last four.
Giraldez will now leave Barca to take charge of Washington Spirit in the NWSL, but was able to leave on the highest note possible, having won a quadruple this term, becoming the first European team since Arsenal in 2007 to manage such a haul in a single campaign.
He told DAZN: "It was an incredible game, I am really happy, one of the best days of my life for sure.
"We did an amazing job with the ball, without the ball. we suffered in the last minutes, but I'm very proud of all of them."
Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze, whose future with the club is uncertain, told DAZN: "We knew that that's what we needed, to be a club to make history.
"It's not easy, it's hard to win it once. To win it back to back, Lyon showed how difficult it is and this team has finally done that. We go down in history as one of the best teams in Europe."
Barca's two Ballon d'Or winners scored their goals, with Bonmati breaking the deadlock just after the hour before Putellas lashed home in stoppage time.
"She's the captain of the team, she's the Queen of Barcelona for a reason," Bronze said of Putellas.
"She's always so confident in the team and showed today why she is a back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner.
"She's got the quality to do that in the last minute of the Champions League final when we were up against it at the end and just sealed the win for us. It was amazing."
Juventus 2-0 Monza: Departing Alex Sandro scores as Bianconeri round off with a win
Juventus completed their Serie A campaign with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Monza thanks to first-half goals from Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro.
Juve ended their season on 71 points, third in the standings, though they can still be overtaken by Europa League champions Atalanta, who sit fifth and have two matches left to play.
Chiesa broke the deadlock after 26 minutes on Saturday and long-serving left-back Sandro, playing in his final game for the Bianconeri before departing as a free agent, doubled the lead two minutes later with a header from a corner.
Juve came close to scoring a third early in the second half, but Chiesa's attempt from the edge of the box hit the woodwork.
Thiago Motta is expected to take charge of Juve in the coming days, after his departure from Bologna was confirmed.
Monza ended the campaign in 12th place with 45 points.
Data Debrief: How's your luck?
Chiesa's effort against the frame of the goal means that, since the beginning of the last season, only Inter (36) hit the woodwork more times than Juve (35) in Serie A.
Juve will be hoping to be that bit more clinical next term as they aim to challenge for the title under Motta.
Barcelona 2-0 Lyon: Ballon d'Or winners on target to seal Champions League triumph
Barcelona sealed a quadruple as they clinched their third Women's Champions League title by beating fellow European heavyweights Lyon 2-0.
Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas, both Ballon d'Or winners, with Barca's heroes in Bilbao on Saturday.
Bonmati opened the scoring in the 63rd minute and, after surviving an onslaught of Lyon pressure, Barca made sure of a famous victory in stoppage time – Putellas lashing home with her left foot after a sweeping counter-attack.
It marks Barca's first-ever win over Lyon, as they became the first team since Arsenal in 2007 to win four trophies in a single season.
Lyon and Barca went into Saturday's final in Bilbao having scored 70 goals between them in this season's Champions League.
Yet it was a cagey first half, with Barca's Caroline Graham Hansen looking the most likely to spark the match into life.
That changed just after the hour when Bonmati, last year's Ballon d'Or winner, saw a close-range cross-shot divert in off the unfortunate Vanessa Gilles, after a slick move had put the Spain international through down the left-hand side of the area.
Lyon, the eight-time European champions, could have found themselves 2-0 down soon after, but Selma Bacha made a vital challenge to deny Graham Hansen what would have been a deserved goal.
The French giants aimed to make their defender's good work count, with substitute Ada Hegerberg entering the fray.
Hegerberg, the all-time leading scorer in the Women's Champions League headed over from her best chance, as Barca's defenders – and goalkeeper Catalina Coll, who took a nasty hit to the head – fought stoically to clear their lines.
And Lyon's hopes were extinguished as another fine Barca move saw the ball worked back to Putellas in the area, and she unleashed an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net.
Quadruple queens
For the first time in 17 years, and the first time since the rebranding of the Women's Champions League, a team has won three domestic trophies and the European crown.
This Barca side, coached by Jonatan Giraldez, are a special bunch.
They have scored 129 goals in Liga F this season, winning 27 of their 28 games and drawing the other, conceding just nine times, and now they have a third Champions League title in the space of four years.
Bonmati and Putellas, their Ballon d'Or-winning duo, served up the key moments, but the whole team delivered a stellar performance to finally end their hoodoo against Lyon.
Bompastor bows out?
Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor is expected to join Chelsea ahead of next season, as the Blues' replacement for the departing Emma Hayes.
The 43-year-old has had an incredible tenure at Lyon, winning the Division 1 Feminine on three occasions and the Champions League in 2021-22.
Despite falling short at the final hurdle this time, she will leave a club legend.
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