Manchester City have opened talks with Chelsea about signing Enzo Fernandez, and the number Chelsea keep repeating is £120m.
That is the minimum. It has been the minimum for weeks - Chelsea set an unofficial cut-off earlier in the summer at exactly that figure, watched the date come and go, and did not move. Now, with hours left in the window, City have finally engaged.
Maresca wants his midfielder back
The obvious driver here is Enzo Maresca. He coached Fernandez at Stamford Bridge, left Chelsea in messy circumstances on New Year's Day, and took the City job in June. Fernandez is said to be open to the move, and personal terms are not expected to cause any friction.
So the entire deal comes down to whether two clubs can agree a price in one evening. If they do, sources expect it to be wrapped up quickly.
The second record of the same window
City have already broken their transfer record this summer, paying £116m to Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson. Signing Fernandez would break it again before the window shuts, which is not something a club normally does in the space of six weeks.
At £120m he would sit second on the all-time Premier League list, behind only the £125m Liverpool spent on Alexander Isak last summer.
The spending has a logic to it, because City have taken their midfield apart. Rodri went to Barcelona for £65m. Tijjani Reijnders was sold to Al-Qadsiah for £52m. Newcastle agreed £52m for Nico Gonzalez. Bernardo Silva left earlier in the summer for Real Madrid. Four senior midfielders out, and so far one in.
Why Chelsea might actually sell
Fernandez scored 10 Premier League goals last season, which for a deep-lying midfielder is a serious return. On form alone Chelsea would not entertain this.
The relationship, though, has been deteriorating since March, when PSG knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League. Fernandez became noticeably more critical of the club afterwards. He and his agent - the former PSG midfielder Javier Pastore - also spent part of the summer courting Real Madrid, to the point where Real put out a statement denying they had made any attempt to sign him.
Clubs do not usually issue denials about players they have no interest in. Whatever was going on, it did not help Fernandez's standing at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have already lost their goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to Como and sanctioned other exits today. Selling a 25-year-old World Cup winner to a title rival is a different order of decision, and £120m is the price they have put on being talked into it.
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