Transfer deadline day: Manchester City agree record-equalling £125m deal to sign Enzo Fernández

Manchester City have agreed a £125m (€146m) deal to sign Enzo Fernández from Chelsea, equalling the British transfer record. It is a fixed fee with no add-ons or performance-related clauses.The Argentina midfielder had wanted to leave and had his heart set on a move to City. Fernández has a close relationship with City’s manager, Enzo Maresca, who left Chelsea this year.Having arrived at Chelsea for £106.8 million (€121m), Fernandez becomes the first Premier League player to be sold for more than £100m twice. It follows the big money midfield signings by Manchester City of Ayyoub Bouaddi (£81.4m/€94.9m) and Elliot Anderson (£116m/€135.2m). Key midfielder Rodri was among the City midfielders to leave the club, joining Barcelona for £65 million (€76m).READ MOREChelsea acted late in the day to replace Fernández, agreeing a £47m deal to sign Lamine Camara from Monaco. The 22-year-old from Senegal is considered one of Ligue 1’s most dynamic midfielders, known for his ball-winning and progressive passing.Meanwhile, after a summer of departures Aston Villa have made a double move on deadline day, signing Senegal winger Ibrahim Mbaye from Paris Saint-Germain in a reported club-record £47m (€55m) deal, and completing a move for England defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who is the son-in-law of Roy Keane, from Southampton.Newcastle have completed the signing of the forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille for an initial sum of about £51m (€60m). The 21-year-old Belgium international is the eighth signing of what Newcastle describe as a “transformative window” as striker Nick Woltemade completed his loan move to Juventus.Johnny Kenny is moving from Scotland to the Championship. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty In Irish transfer news, Johnny Kenny has signed for Preston North End from Celtic in deal believed to be worth £3 million (€3.5m).The Republic of Ireland international will join Andrew Moran and Cathal O’Sullivan at the Championship club after signing a four-year deal, with Preston beating competition from Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers for his signature.Kenny has been at Celtic since 2021, but struggled to nail down gametime, and spent most of his time at loan, most notably at Shamrock Rovers in 2024 when he scored 20 goals.Meanwhile, Chiedozie Ogbene is on his way to Lincoln City on a short-term loan from Ipswich.The Irish winger has struggled with injuries since moving to Ipswich from Luton Town in 2024 and spent time on loan at Sheffield United last season.Sam Curtis has signed for League One side Cambridge United on a season-long loan. The right-back spent last season on loan at Chesterfield in League Two.Everton defender Jake O’Brien was linked with a move away from the Premier League club, with reports of tension with manager David Moyes over his failure to get game time at his preferred position of centre-back rather than right-back.Crystal Palace were believed to be interested in O’Brien, but have decided not to pursue a deal on deadline day, so O’Brien will stay put in Merseyside.Everton have agreed a deal to take Jack Grealish on another season-long loan from Manchester City.Grealish (30) moved to the Hill Dickinson stadium on loan last summer but, after scoring two goals and registering six assists in an impressive first half of the campaign, he suffered a stress fracture in his foot in January.The deal for Grealish to return to Everton comes at the same time as City have agreed a fee worth up to £65m for Toffees winger Iliman Ndiaye.