Shots, slack and a bet for Benfica that went well: how River managed to collect 50 million for Enzo Fernández’s transfer

The historic and millionaire sale of Enzo Fernández It has a behind the scenes. It started much earlier Chelsea shell out 121 million euros to acquire it from Benfica Already River and that the 22-year-old world champion midfielder moved from the Portuguese league to the Premier League, earning Núñez’s club a total of over €50m. And that his secret is a negotiation with a sporting and market vision.

The story began in the first half of 2022 when River started receiving offers for Enzo Fernández. As far as she could find out clarion, there were many clubs interested in the midfielder born in San Martín. Among them Benfica.

At that time, River opted for the Portuguese club, despite it not being the best offer. The reason? The good reputation – embodied in reality – that this institution has to resell to young people.

Having discarded other options, including a Premier League club, Wolverhampton, River has bet on Benfica. And the negotiations, from start to finish, were taken over by President Jorge Brito, with some interventions by the first vice president, Matías Patanian, and the sports secretary, Enzo Francescoli.

Brito has had a permanent dialogue with the former footballer Rui Costa, president of Benfica, through different calls, video calls and zooms. And the axis of the negotiation was to keep a significant percentage of Enzo Fernández.

The river settled at 25% from the start, which is a quarter of the chip because I understood that this percentage would be more important for a future transfer than for the sale same to Benfica, which was already good.

But not everything was pink. In mid-2022, when the talks went ahead and Benfica even sent Rui Bras, their sporting director, as an emissary, the step was about to fall. It is that Benfica first wanted to leave River at only 10% and then went up to 15%. However, Núñez’s club stood by and told him so that wouldn’t budge from 25%.

At that time, the advice of the businessman and the representative was also crucial. jorge mendes (He managed Cristiano Ronaldo’s career), with a close connection to Brito. Mendes gave his advice to hold onto 25% because Enzo could be sold for more than 100 million euros in the future.

Benfica at that time came to offer more money for the pass and River to keep 15%. Even so, Núñez’s club management understood that it was crucial to prioritize the 25% and keep the €18m offered, which even came close to Fernández’s release clause with River, which was €25m.

Even in recent months, with Enzo already playing for Benfica, River had the option to sell that 25% because Benfica asked to buy it, but Núñez they kept the position to keep it.

With the €121m transfer of Enzo Fernández from Benfica to Chelsea, the player’s notable circle with River has come full circle. Not only with these curiosities behind the negotiation, but also with a life story that began when Enzo arrived at the club as a very small child, at the Pre-Infant age.

Fernández not only trained in football at River but also grew, developed and studied at the club’s Institute before making his First Division debut. And after returning from loan with Defensa y Justicia and becoming champions with Marcelo Gallardo’s team, he had to renew his contract. It was one of the first renewals of the management led by Jorge Brito.

And at that moment there was not only a sports vision on the part of the management to continue betting on him, but also on the part of the player himself, who did not speculate on a possible freedom of action to negotiate future offers on his own, but indeed he put his commitment and feeling first of all for the club and his desire that his career continues to rise on the pitch, where he did not stop growing until he became a world champion and reached today the best league on the planet.