Ahead of the January transfer window, it is said that Liverpool and Wolves are keen to bring Enzo Fernandez to the Premier League.
The 21-year-old was only signed by Benfica from River Plate in July, with the Portuguese giants inserting a €120m (£107m) release clause into his contract, but he has already made shockwaves in the Primeira Liga.
Fernandez scored three goals in his first three games for Benfica. Now, the man wanted by Jürgen Klopp and Bruno Lage has started to make an impact on the international scene too.
Liverpool & Wolves target shines for Argentina
Argentina took on Honduras in a friendly early this morning, where Lionel Scaloni handed Fernandez his senior debut for La Albiceleste in a 3-0 win.
The Benfica No.13 was not included in the starting XI, although he still managed to shine from the bench when introduced in the 64th minute.
As FotMob shows, Fernandez impressively completed 100% of the 37 passes he made in his cameo appearance, with three of those being passes into the final third – he is clearly a forward thinking midfielder.
The Liverpool and Wolves target also had 41 touches of the ball, while he was dribbled past just once – he nearly crowned his debut with a goal in the 82nd minute as well, but was denied by the woodwork.
It was a fine display from Fernandez, and it has come at the perfect time for the South American as Scaloni must soon pick his starting XI for the World Cup in Qatar.
Liverpool & Wolves will regret ignoring Enzo Fernandez in the summer
In our view, Liverpool or Wolves may end up paying much, much more than they needed to for Fernandez.
Had the Premier League duo noticed his talents while he was at River Plate, they could have signed him for just €18m (£16m).
Now, Benfica are well within their rights to refer interested parties to his £107m release clause.
The Portuguese giants have already managed to wrangle £64m from Liverpool for Darwin Nunez, in a deal which could still rise to a club-record £85m.
Therefore, Primeira Liga sides know those in the Premier League will cough up for their talents if they dig their heels in on their valuation – as a result, we think Liverpool and Wolves have missed the chance to sign Fernandez for a reasonable fee.
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