British Chelsea are continuing talks with Portugal’s Benfica about signing Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
The 21-year-old World Cup winner, who joined the Portuguese club in August, has a release clause of about £106m, reports BBC.
If Chelsea agreed to that amount it would eclipse their existing record fee of £98m paid for Romelu Lukaku and add to the record total of about £270m spent by the new ownership last summer.
Discussions are ongoing about the size of the fee and structure of the deal.
Chelsea's interest in Fernandez continues a recent policy of buying young players in the hope their value will be maintained over the course of long contracts.
The move for Fernandez is being made with the contracts of 31-year-old midfielders Jorginho and N'Golo Kante coming to an end this season.
Chelsea are winless in their last five Premier League away matches.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
