Blues owner Todd Boehly has splashed out £480m on 15 new players since last summer.

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They then added Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos and Mykhailo Mudryk to their ranks once the January window opened.

They also paid £10m to Atletico Madrid to loan forward Joao Felix for the remainder of the campaign.

And Chelsea confirmed the signing of £35m winger Noni Madueke from PSV on Friday to take their spending this month to £151m.

Now they are allegedly ready to get the chequebook out again to try and secure the 21-year-old Benfica midfielder, says Record.

Graham Potter’s side were at loggerheads with the Portuguese giants as they refused to pay Fernandez’s £105m release clause and failed in their bid to negotiate.

That led many to believe that they had given up on their pursuit of the South American, at least until the summer.

However, these fresh report is claiming that is not the case, and now they are readying another offer before the window closes on January 31.

A bid worth £112m – £6m more than his release clause – was turned down as it was structured to be paid in three £37.3m yearly instalments.

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But Blues chiefs are allegedly ready to try and negotiate again with their Benfica counterparts.

That is despite Benfica issuing a statement regarding Fernandez, who appears desperate to move to Stamford Bridge, stating he would not be old.

Fernandez only arrived at Benfica from River Plate last summer and is under contract until 2027.