Tottenham have agreed to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham.
The fee is expected to be £85 million and the player is now preparing to undergo a medical.
The figure would break Tottenham’s £65m transfer record for Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth in August 2024.
Manchester United also pursued Fernandes and tried their best to sign him, but they will only buy players at the right price.
If completed, the deal would easily surpass Tottenham’s transfer record of £65 million, which they paid for Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth in August 2024.
West Ham decision-makers believe Fernandes was one of the Premier League’s best young players last season and has the potential to be as good as Declan Rice, who was sold to Arsenal for £105m in 2023.
Analysis: Relegated twice – so why is Fernandes worth £85m?
Sam Blitz from Sky Sports:
Fernandes proved his status as one of the Premier League’s most powerful players last season, a quality that stands out to those who know him.
“It’s no surprise that his tackle stats are very high,” says Simon Rask, who worked with Fernandes at Southampton. Sky Sport.
“Talking to him and watching him, I realized that this would be a feature of his game and a strength.”
Aside from the challenging nature, you’ll have to do a lot of high-intensity running to get the job done in the first place.
Fernandes is one of the top ten midfielders in the Premier League in terms of distance covered. Again, it follows the same pattern: if Anderson is the best first choice option on the market, then Fernandes is essentially the next best option.
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When Fernandes signed for Southampton, it wasn’t always planned; Then-boss Russell Martin considered him a more advanced option.
“He was used more as a number 10, a slightly more advanced role,” he says. “But when I spoke to Matty in conversations, it was quite obvious that he saw himself as more of an all-round midfielder, more of a number 8.”
“And it would help play on the defensive side of the game. What Matty wanted to do, he wanted to run. He wanted to be involved in the game as much as possible.”
“But certainly looking at his performances at West Ham this year, he’s definitely moved on in terms of game intelligence and mixed with his strength, tenacity and drive.”
West Ham have also noticed Fernandes’ desire to play a little deeper – using him primarily as a hybrid option between a number 6 and number 8 in the season just gone.