City spearheaded a frantic final day of spending as they aim to arm Enzo Maresca with a squad capable of winning the Premier League for the first time in three seasons. Premier League clubs shattered their record of 3.1 billion pounds ($4.2 billion) in transfer fees in one window on deadline day as Manchester City splashed out 125 million pounds to Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez and signed Iliman Ndiaye.
Fernandez, who previously thrived under Maresca at Chelsea, has been linked with a move to the Etihad for months.
Chelsea’s bid to replace Fernandez with Monaco’s Lamine Camara collapsed when the French side reportedly pulled out of the deal. But the Reds’ attempts to further add to their squad look to have been frustrated with bids for Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr and Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh knocked back, meaning Cody Gakpo is set to stay despite interest from City and Tottenham. But it took until the final hours before the 2200 GMT deadline for an agreement to be reportedly struck with the fee for the Argentine to match the British transfer record that Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak on the final day of the window last year. Mbaye played 31 times in all competitions for PSG last season as the French club won the Champions League and the Ligue 1 title. Tottenham secured a loan move for Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk after missing out on Ndiaye and Gakpo, and a 7 million pounds swoop for his Blues team-mate Tosin Adarabioyo.
