Man City signs Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye to take unprecedented summer outlay past $600M

Manchester City completed its $440-million midfield rebuild on Tuesday by signing Argentina international Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea in a deal worth 125 million pounds ($169 million), a fee that ties the British transfer record.

Fernandez, who was sent off against Spain in the World Cup final in July, becomes the third central midfielder to join City for more than $100 million in this summer transfer window, with 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi coming from Lille in a $117 million deal and England international Elliot Anderson moving for $155 million.

“I could not be happier to be here," Fernandez said, “and I am ready for the challenge of helping City continue winning trophies. This is a club built for success.”

Also Tuesday, City bought Senegal winger Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for an initial 60 million pounds ($81 million) in a move that provides competition for Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and fellow new signing Allan — the other wide attackers in recently hired manager Enzo Maresca's squad.

Jack Grealish, who joined City for $139 million in 2021, was another one but he has been loaned to Everton for the second straight season.

City's total summer outlay on players is more than $600 million, unprecedented expenditure by one club in a single window. The club has recouped nearly $400 million in sales, however.

City needed to remodel its midfield under Maresca following the departures of mainstays Rodri and Bernardo Silva, as well as backups Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders.

It's the second time that Fernandez, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has been British soccer's most expensive player. He briefly gained that status when joining Chelsea from Benfica for 106.7 million pounds ($131.4 million) in early 2023.

Fernandez will join up again with Maresca, who was Chelsea's manager for 18 months before leaving in January and made the Argentine his vice captain. Maresca spoke last week of wanting to add more leadership to the squad.

City has been linked with Fernandez for weeks and seemingly lost its chance to sign him when missing a reported deadline for the transfer set by Chelsea in early August.

The teams eventually began negotiations late in the window, with the deal concluded on deadline day.

In March, Fernandez told a podcast that he would like to live in Madrid, amid speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid. It led to then-Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior dropping Fernandez for two games, saying “a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.”

Fernandez hadn't started for Chelsea this season, not even making the squad for the last two matches with his future so uncertain.

“I want you to know that these have not been easy days for me,” Fernandez said in a post on Instagram directed at Chelsea fans. ”I haven’t been in a good place."

Ndiaye represents a big loss for Everton — he was the club's star player with his technical ability and work ethic — but the move is a big step up for a player who was in England's second tier with Sheffield United just three years ago. After that, he was at Marseille in France.

“I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this," Ndiaye said. “It’s not always been easy in my career, but I always had the belief that I could play for a team challenging for the biggest prizes and now I’m here. It feels so good."

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