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Benfica appear to have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers to the signing of midfielder Enzo Fernandez from River Plate.

That’s according to journalist Pedro Sepulveda, who reports that the Portuguese side have ‘reached an agreement’ with their Argentinian counterparts.

Fernandez is one of the rising young stars at River Plate and has plenty of interest in him from European sides.

Wolves are one of those who are keen, and their head of recruitment travelled to Argentina this week to hold negotiations about a transfer.

That was followed by a report that stated their chances were beginning to dwindle, despite days of meetings between the parties involved.

That might be because Benfica have taken the lead in the race, with Sepulveda reporting that they have an agreement to buy 75% of Fernandez’s rights, meaning River will get 25% of a future sale.

Crucially, though, the agreement will see the midfielder make the move later this year after the Copa Libertadores, something which the player had wanted.

All that’s left is for him to accept the terms of the contract on offer from Benfica, although there is no hint that he won’t do so.

The suggestion is that Wolves are now firmly out of the picture, although that is, of course, never 100% the case until that contract is signed.