Transfer deadline day sees Man City set for $169 million move for Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez

Manchester City is closing in on a transfer deadline day deal for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez for what would be a joint-British record 125 million pounds ($169 million).

City has agreed to a fee with Chelsea, clearing the way for Argentina international Fernandez to complete his move to the Etihad Stadium before the window shuts at 2200 GMT, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced.

Fernandez would become the latest big-money signing as part of City's $440-million midfield rebuild, which includes the arrivals of Elliot Anderson ($155 million) and Ayyoub Bouaddi ($117 million).

The fee is the same as Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak last year.

The deal would take City's spending to around $530 million during this window, according to figures stated by soccer industry website Transfermarkt, with the Abu Dhabi-controlled club recouping almost $400 million in sales.

City’s spectacular spending spree might not be done there, with Senegal winger Iliman Ndiaye close to joining from Everton for a fee of 60 million pounds ($81 million). That transfer might see Jack Grealish leave City again, possibly to Everton for another season-long loan.

Chelsea and Tottenham are other top spenders in England this summer, with an outlay of more than $400 million each on new players.

Europe's top teams are trying to push through last-minute deals before the window shuts, with U.S. striker Folarin Balogun set to be one of the big movers on what is expected to be a frantic day of action.

Balogun is closing in on a move to Everton from Monaco, according to reports.

It looks like being a record-breaking window for the Premier League with a total outlay on new players of more than $4 billion spent so far on the back of its huge domestic and international broadcasting deals, which give English soccer unrivaled spending power.

The previous highest spend in one window was 3.14 billion pounds ($4.25 billion) in 2025.

It is also deadline day for top-flight clubs in Spain, Italy, Germany and France, whose combined spending might not reach that of England.

The deadline in Germany, France and Italy is 1800 GMT and Spain's is 2159 GMT.

Premier League

It has been a summer of heavy change at Aston Villa, with a number of star players — Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez, among them — leaving and a slew of new arrivals.

Its business continued Tuesday with the signing of Ibrahim Mbaye from Paris Saint-Germain.

The two-time Champions League-winning winger joins a new-look Villa attack, which has also seen the additions of Nicolas Jackson and Alejandro Garnacho.

Villa, which qualified for the Champions League last season, has lost its opening two league games this campaign.

Spain

Gabriel Jesus completed a move from Arsenal to Barcelona on a three-year deal.

The Brazil striker endured an injury-disrupted time at Arsenal, but was part of last season's title-winning team.

He is the latest forward to leave the Emirates Stadium during this window, following Leandro Trossard's move to Besiktas, while Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri are also expected to move.

Italy

Germany forward Nick Woltemade left Newcastle after one season in the Premier League and joined Juventus, which also signed Pape Matar Sarr on loan from Tottenham.

Beto moved to Fiorentina from Everton as the replacement for Moise Kean, who joined Como — the team coached by Cesc Fabregas and in the Champions League this season — on loan.

Robinho Junior, the 18-year-old son of the former Brazil player Robinho, signed with Genoa and English forward Jonathan Rowe was loaned from Bologna to Atalanta.

Germany

Bayer Leverkusen made the biggest splash in Germany on Tuesday by announcing the signing of Ivory Coast right back Guéla Doué – the older brother of France star Désiré Doué – and the return of Moussa Diaby three years after he left for Aston Villa.

Media reports said Leverkusen was paying an initial 30 million euros ($35 million) to Racing Strasbourg for Doué, which could rise to a club-record 36 million ($42 million). It is paying another reported 27 million euros ($31 million) to Al-Ittihad for French winger Diaby.

Diaby scored 49 goals in 172 competitive games for Leverkusen between 2019-23 before he moved to Aston Villa for a reported fee of 55 million euros. He spent just one year in England before his move n 2024 to Al-Ittihad, where he won the Saudi title along with Karim Benzema in 2024-25. Leverkusen said he signed a deal through June 2031 and will again wear the number 19 jersey.

Spanish youngster Marc Guiu left Chelsea for Leipzig. The 20-year-old center forward was part of the Chelsea squad which won the Conference League and Club World Cup a year ago but never became a first-team regular or scored a Premier League goal.

Guiu arrives at Leipzig on a five-year contract for a reported fee of up to 17 million euros ($19.7 million).