Enzo Jeremías Fernández (born 17 January 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the Argentina national team.
As an academy graduate of River Plate, Fernández made his first-team debut for the club in 2019, before spending two seasons on loan with Defensa y Justicia. There, he won the Copa Sudamericana and Recopa Sudamericana, and returned to River Plate in 2021. He joined Benfica in the summer of 2022. Having played only six months for them, he joined Chelsea in January 2023 for a British-record transfer fee worth €121 million (£106.8 million). In September 2026, Fernández joined Manchester City for £125 million, equalling the existing British transfer fee record. The move made Fernández the first player to be transferred for more than £100 million on two separate occasions.
An Argentine international, Fernández previously represented his country at under-18 level before making his senior international debut. He represented Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, playing an important role in helping his country win their third title, while also winning the tournament's Young Player Award. He was also part of the team that won the 2024 Copa América. Fernández was a key player in Argentina's campaign to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, where he received a red card.
Club career
River Plate
Early career Born in San Martín, Buenos Aires, to Raúl and Marta; Fernández has four brothers, Seba, Rodri, Maxi and Gonza. He was introduced to football at a young age, playing for a local side called Club La Recova, before joining River Plate. It is unclear exactly when Fernández joined River Plate; in November 2019, in an interview for the River Plate website, he claimed to have joined the academy in 2005, in September 2020, Argentine newspaper Clarín reported that he joined River in 2006, while in February 2023, he claimed he was six when he joined in an interview for the Chelsea website, which would have most likely been in 2007.
He progressed through the youth ranks, and was promoted into the club's first-team by manager Marcelo Gallardo on 27 January 2019, in a 3–1 home loss to Patronato in the Primera División, despite remaining on the bench. He made his first-team debut on 4 March 2020, replacing Santiago Sosa in the 75th minute of a 3–0 loss to LDU Quito in the Copa Libertadores. In the weeks prior, he scored once, in the 6–1 thrashing of Libertad, in four games at the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores in Paraguay.
2020–21: Loan to Defensa y Justicia Despite being sporadically used Fernández's manager advised him to leave the club on loan, in order to continue his development. In August, Fernández was loaned to fellow top-flight club Defensa y Justicia. He made his debut for the Halcón on 18 September by manager Hernán Crespo in a 3–0 win over Delfín in the Copa Libertadores. Despite initially not being a starter, his performances impressed his manager and eventually he earned a place in the team, helping the club win the 2020 Copa Sudamericana, starting in the 3–0 win over fellow Argentinian side Lanús in the final, winning his first career title.
2021–22: First-team breakthrough After impressing on loan, Fernández returned to River Plate, during the season at the request of manager Marcelo Gallardo, making his return on 15 July 2021, in the first leg of Copa Libertadores round-of-16, featuring in the 1–1 home draw to fellow Argentinian side Argentinos Juniors. He immediately became a starter and on 14 August, he scored his first goal for the club and provided an assist in a 2–0 win over Vélez Sarsfield in the Primera División. On 20 December, he agreed to a contract extension to 2025. Following a promising start in the 2022 season, which he scored eight goals and provided six assists in 19 games, Fernández was named the best active footballer in Argentina, being subsequently scouted by a number of established European teams.
Benfica
On 23 June 2022, River Plate reached an agreement with Primeira Liga team Benfica for the transfer of Fernández for a €10 million fee for 75% of his economic rights plus €8 million in add-ons, but with the player remaining at River Plate until the end of the club's Copa Libertadores campaign. Following River Plate's round of 16 exit from the Copa Libertadores, on 14 July, Benfica confirmed the deal, giving Fernández the number 13 shirt, previously worn by club legend Eusébio.
He made his debut for the club on 2 August, scoring his first goal for the club, a half-volley from outside the penalty area, in a 4–1 home win over Midtjylland in the first leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. He then scored in Benfica's next matches: a 4–0 home win over Arouca in the Primeira Liga, and a 3–1 away win over Midtjylland in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. His impressive performances continued throughout the month and following a run of five consecutive wins and three clean sheets, he was named the Primeira Liga's Midfielder of the Month, a feat which was repeated for the months of October and November.
Chelsea
Following Fernández's success internationally at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he was linked with a move to Premier League teams Chelsea and Liverpool in the January 2023 transfer window, however, Benfica were adamant he wouldn't be sold for less than his €121m release clause. After negotiations lasting some ten hours and led by CFC co-owner Behdad Eghbali, the two clubs, on 31 January 2023, the last day of the Premier League's transfer window, came to an agreement and Fernández signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract, valid until 2031, with Chelsea, whose financial package reportedly was worth a total of £106.8 million. The transfer fee paid by Chelsea was, at the time, a British-record transfer deal. Benfica received an initial £30 million installment that will be followed by five more.
Fernández made his debut in the Premier League on 3 February in a home goal-less draw against Fulham, playing the full game. On 11 February, he registered an assist for the team's only goal in a 1–1 league draw at West Ham United. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 2–1 win over AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the EFL Cup on 30 August 2023. He scored his first Premier League goals on 3 December, by netting a brace in a 3–2 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
On 28 May 2025, Fernández scored Chelsea's opening goal in a 4–1 victory over Real Betis in the Conference League final, helping them become the first team to have won all four major European competitions. Six weeks later, he started in Chelsea's 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final.
On 31 January 2026, on his 150th appearance for Chelsea, Fernández scored in the second minute of injury time to secure a 3–2 win over West Ham after the home team was 0–2 down at half-time. Later that year, on 26 April, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Leeds United, securing the club's 17th appearance in an FA Cup final.
Manchester City On 1 September 2026, Enzo Fernández completed a move to Manchester City on transfer deadline day, joining the club for a reported British-record-equalling £125 million fee and signing a contract through 2031. The deal saw Fernández become the first player in football history to command transfer fees of more than £100 million on two separate occasions. His arrival also brought him back together with former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. Fernández was assigned the number 17 shirt, notably one previously worn by club legend Kevin De Bruyne. He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 home victory against Coventry City on 5 September.
International career In July 2019, Fernández was selected by the Argentina U18s manager Esteban Solari to represent his nation at the 2019 COTIF Tournament in Spain. In November 2021, he was called up by Argentina national team manager Lionel Scaloni for two 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Uruguay. He made his senior team debut on 24 September 2022, by coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Leandro Paredes in a 3–0 win against Honduras.
2022 World Cup title In November 2022, Fernández was named in Argentina's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After coming on for Guido Rodríguez in the 57th minute, on 26 November, Fernández scored his first international goal, closing Argentina's 2–0 group stage win against Mexico. In doing so, he became the second youngest player ever (only behind Lionel Messi) to score a World Cup goal for Argentina at 21 years and 313 days old. On 3 December, he became the youngest own goal scorer in the history of Argentina in the FIFA World Cup, in the round of sixteen match against Australia, when his attempt to block Craig Goodwin's shot deflected into his team's net as Argentina beat Australia 2–1. After defeating Croatia 3–0 in the semi-final, Fernández played in the final against France, where Argentina won the World Cup by a score of 4–2 on penalties after a 3–3 draw. He was named the best young player of the tournament.
2024 Copa América title In June 2024, Fernández was called up to represent Argentina at the 2024 Copa América. He played in all but one of their matches and recorded two assists as they went on to win the tournament, defeating Colombia 1–0 in the final and earning him his second senior international trophy.
July 2024 video controversy
In July 2024, following Argentina's Copa América triumph, a video showing Fernández and other Argentinian players chanting alleged racist chants about the origin of France national team players on the team bus surfaced, which led to outrage and criticism from the French Football Federation (FFF) and French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Several of Fernández's French teammates at Chelsea proceeded to unfollow him on Instagram and made posts on Twitter showing their anger, which led to Fernández apologising through Instagram. The FFF lodged a complaint to FIFA about the remarks, while Chelsea announced that it had "instigated an internal disciplinary procedure". After Fernández apologized privately to his Chelsea teammates and donated to an anti-discrimination charity, Chelsea announced that they would not be taking any disciplinary actions against him.
2026 World Cup
In May 2026, Fernández was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He scored a stoppage-time winner in a 3–2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16, which was also the 3000th goal in FIFA World Cup history. In the semi-final against England, he levelled the score with a long-range effort before his team went on to secure a 2–1 victory. Following the match, Fernández shared a photo of himself, Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes laughing on Instagram. He accompanied the photo with the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis – "an anthem for the England squad".
In the final against Spain, he was given a second yellow and a red card after he fouled the Spanish player Pau Cubarsí, becoming the first player to be sent off in a FIFA World Cup final since John Heitinga in 2010. Fernández took a couple of minutes to leave the pitch, kicking a pitch-side microphone in apparent frustration. Argentina then lost the game 1–0 in extra time. Many media sources criticised Fernández's World Cup antics; Oliver Brown of The Telegraph said that the red card was a "just ending for a brat", and called Fernández "by far the World Cup’s most dislikeable player". Joshua Robinson of The Wall Street Journal wrote that "as the tournament reached its conclusion on Sunday evening, the soccer universe came to a rare consensus", labelling Fernández "the last villain of this World Cup".
Style of play