"I will not cry for a player who did not want to stay"- Benfica president Costa slams Fernandez

After weeks of speculation,

finally joined

from

on the final day of the January transfer window. Chelsea activated his £106.8million release clause that made him the most expensive transfer in Premier League history.

Benfica president Rui Costa tried to keep the Argentina midfielder, but in the end, he sanctioned the move due to Fernandez’s desire to leave.

"Everything was done to ensure that Enzo was not sold. I have a clear conscience and I am as sad as any Benfica fan," Costa told BTV on Thursday.

"We tried everything. Enzo has always shown a desire not to stay at Benfica.

"As a fan, I no longer wanted Enzo as a player. As president, he could not continue. I decided he had to leave.

"Commitment to Benfica is not beating your chest. In Arouca [a 3-0 win on Tuesday] we played without Enzo.

"We lost a great player, but I will not cry for a player who did not want to stay at Benfica. I was raised at Benfica, knowing how to honour Benfica.

"Respecting Enzo, he is free to choose and the choice was not to stay at Benfica. At Benfica, there will only be players who are proud to be here."

Benfica's president said he tried to convince Fernandez to stay until the summer, but the 22-year-old midfielder had his heart set on joining Chelsea.

"Was Enzo going to lose value until the end of the season at Benfica? No,

" he continued.

"We tried to show him that if he stayed at Benfica until the end of the season, Chelsea and others would appear."

Costa also revealed that Benfica will receive five million above the release clause, and they are happy with the structure of the deal.

Costa said:

"It's in instalments. The value of the clause doesn't have to be paid upfront.

"We reached what we wanted and came out five million above the clause. It was not by chance that this deal ran out of time, we did everything to keep Enzo."

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