Transfer deadline day: Man City set for $169M move for Fernandez as English clubs spend record $4.3B

A record-breaking spending spree by English soccer clubs was reaching its climax late Tuesday with Manchester City about to sign Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez for 125 million pounds ($169 million), making the Argentina star one of the most expensive players in history.The deal for Fernandez would be the biggest yet of a summer when the Premier League's super-rich teams have splashed out almost $4.3 billion pounds combined — a record for a single transfer window — thanks to the competition's huge domestic and international broadcasting deals, which give its clubs unrivaled spending power.City’s spending alone on new players could top $600 million during this window, according to figures stated by soccer industry website Transfermarkt, with Senegal winger Iliman Ndiaye joining from Everton before Tuesday's deadline for an initial $81 million. Chelsea and Tottenham are other top spenders in England this summer, with an outlay of more than $400 million each on new players.City has agreed to a fee with Chelsea for Fernandez, clearing the way for the Argentina international to complete his move to the Etihad Stadium before the window shuts at 2200 GMT, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced.Fernandez would become the latest big-money signing as part of City's $440-million midfield rebuild, which includes the arrivals of Elliot Anderson ($155 million) and Ayyoub Bouaddi ($117 million).The fee is the same as Liverpool paid last year for Alexander Isak, which has stood as the British-record transfer.They will be tied in fourth place in the all-time list of most expensive soccer players, after Neymar (Barcelona to PSG for 222 million euros), Kylian Mbappé (Monaco to PSG for 180 million euros) and Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona for 148 million euros), according to Transfermarkt.Abu Dhabi-controlled City has recouped almost $400 million in sales already this window — among the departures has been Spain's World Cup-winning captain Rodri and Bernardo Silva — and is set to let Jack Grealish leave again, possibly to Everton for another season-long loan.The previous highest spend by Premier League teams in one window was 3.14 billion pounds ($4.25 billion) in 2025 and that has already been surpassed, even before all of the last-minute …