John Terry’s answer to Enzo Fernandez’s Chelsea farewell was two symbols under the Instagram post: a fist bump and a blue heart. It sat in a comments section where most fans were reaching for something a lot less warm, as first reported by GiveMeSport.

The post itself went up hours after Manchester City had confirmed the signing on Deadline Day.

Fernandez, 25, wrote warmly of his time at the club.

“Three years ago, Cobham and Stamford Bridge became home for me and my family.”

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“I became obsessed with winning and with bringing this club every trophy that its history deserves.”

£125m, and the British record equalled again

The fee is one of the biggest English football has seen. Manchester City paid £125m, matching the joint British record Liverpool set when they took Alexander Isak from Newcastle a year earlier. Fernandez has agreed a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium, tying him to the club until 2031.

Chelsea, who paid Benfica £107m for him in January 2023, walk away with an £18m profit and a hole in central midfield.

Enzo Maresca, who ran Chelsea for a single season before taking the Manchester City job from Pep Guardiola in the summer, now inherits Fernandez as a City player.

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The replacement that fell apart at 11pm

The exit hurts more because Chelsea did not manage to replace him. The club had a full written agreement with Monaco for Senegal international Lamine Camara, a £47m deal with a six-year contract and a scheduled medical, before Monaco pulled out minutes after the 11pm window closed.

Monaco reversed their position because their own domino toppled the wrong way: a renegotiated deal to sell Folarin Balogun to Everton collapsed when the striker backed out at the last moment. Chelsea’s response was to brand Monaco “deeply unprofessional”.

Xabi Alonso, who took charge at Stamford Bridge in July, has therefore lost his most established midfielder without a like-for-like signing through the door.

Maresca against Alonso at the Etihad in December

Fernandez plays his former club for the first time when Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 12 December.

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