The total package is reported to be worth £125 million, around €145 million. That sees Fernández equal the British transfer record set by Liverpool when they signed Alexander Isak last summer. The 25-year-old has signed a five-year contract with City until the summer of 2031.
From River Plate to Benfica and the Premier League
Fernández came through the academy at River Plate. During a loan spell with Defensa y Justicia, he won the Copa Sudamericana and then the Recopa Sudamericana. After returning to River, he established himself in the first team and helped the club win the Argentine league title in 2021.
A move to Benfica followed in the summer of 2022. Fernández adapted quickly in Portugal and impressed both domestically and in the Champions League. Just six months later, Chelsea FC paid around €121 million for the then 22-year-old — a British transfer record at the time.
Fernández made 170 competitive appearances for Chelsea, scoring 31 goals and providing 30 assists. In 2025, he helped the club win the Conference League before lifting the Club World Cup only a few weeks later. His role became more attacking last season: he scored ten goals and registered four assists in 36 Premier League appearances, finishing the campaign with 15 goals and seven assists in all competitions.
A key figure for Argentina
Fernández’s rise at international level was just as rapid. He made his senior Argentina debut in September 2022 and was a world champion only a few months later in Qatar. He played his way into the starting line-up during the tournament and was named the World Cup’s best young player by FIFA. He then added the Copa América title in 2024.
Argentina reached another World Cup final in 2026, where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain after extra time. Fernández scored twice on the way to the final, finding the net in the 3-2 win over Egypt and the 2-1 semi-final victory against England.
A midfielder who can do a bit of everything
Fernández is difficult to define by one position alone. He is at his best as a No.8 with licence to move forward, but he can also operate as a No.10 and drop deep from that position.
Those movements make him particularly valuable in build-up. Fernández is comfortable receiving the ball deep in midfield under pressure, helps his team play through the first line of the press and has the passing quality to progress the ball quickly through the thirds. He also has the vision to play vertical passes and longer balls in behind the defence. Under Maresca, Fernández often started in a more advanced role before dropping deep during build-up and getting involved close to his own defensive line.
He has also become a greater goal threat in recent years. When other attacking players on his team drop towards the ball, Fernández regularly attacks the space that opens up and makes forward runs from midfield into the opposition penalty area. In that way, he increasingly combines his qualities in build-up with a stronger presence in the final third and greater threat in front of goal.
His ideal role, however, is not as a lone holding midfielder. Fernández contributes without the ball, but he is not the type of player best suited to protecting large spaces in front of the defence on his own.
Where Fernández fits in Maresca’s midfield
That is where City’s other midfield signings become particularly interesting. In Elliot Anderson, Manchester City brought in one of the Premier League’s most energetic and combative midfielders for £116 million. They also signed 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille OSC. The Morocco international cost €95 million plus a possible €5 million in add-ons and is regarded as a technically strong, positionally disciplined option for deeper midfield areas.
Fernández adds a different profile to the pair. Bouaddi can provide structure as the deepest midfielder, Anderson offers intensity and ball-winning ability, while Fernández could take greater responsibility for build-up, connections with the attack and runs into the penalty area. A system with Anderson and Bouaddi behind the Argentine would also be possible.
Maresca knows Fernández’s qualities extremely well from their time together at Chelsea. That familiarity should give him every chance of finding the role at City that brings the best out of the World Cup winner.
City’s €375m midfield rebuild
The financial scale of the rebuild is extraordinary. Add together the fees for Anderson, Bouaddi and Fernández and Manchester City have spent around €375 million on those three central midfielders alone. The overhaul became necessary following a series of high-profile departures. Rodri joined FC Barcelona, while Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders also left the club.
In Fernández, City have signed a player who already knows the Premier League and Maresca’s ideas, while bringing vast experience at the highest level despite being only 25. After such a dramatic overhaul in central midfield, the key question now is how quickly Maresca can turn so much individual quality into a coherent unit.
