West ham Transfer Update
Sky Sports News are reporting that West Ham have seen their opening bid for Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes rejected.
The offer is believed to have been worth £30 million plus add-ons, with the Saints said to be holding out for closer to £50 million for the 21-year-old midfielder.
The news is thought to have been leaked by Southampton, with the Hammers remaining tight-lipped about the offer. However, a senior source told Claret & Hugh yesterday that “negotiations are tough.”
Sky also claim that Southampton do not wish to sell Fernandes, but that statement should likely be taken as a negotiating tactic. The Portugal U21 international was left out of the Saints’ starting line-up for their Championship opener against Wrexham, and the club are well aware they face a battle to keep hold of their star man.
West Ham’s Fernandes bid has been rejected by Southampton
West Ham will probably have to agree a compromise figure of around £40 million to tempt Southampton into doing business, with Fernandes said to be keen to play at the highest level.
We can now expect a very public second round of haggling, with the Hammers feigning disinterest and Southampton insisting the former Sporting graduate remains central to their plans.
One thing is clear—Fernandes is Graham Potter’s top transfer target at this stage.
£50m could probably land Mukau, Onyedika and Gueye.
Hell, even a “compromise” of £40m could likely land a couple of them so hopefully the links to Mukau and Onyedika aren’t the good ol’ “We’re looking elsewhere… best take our money…” tactics.
Forget this, decent player but £30m is too much in my opinion – £50m Southampton have been sniffing something !
surely this smells of a JWP and cash thrown in to make it happen with a lower outlay in the first instance? I like Fernandes as a player as I think he’s got a lot of attributes from carrying the ball forwards to hard tackling where needed.. for me, someone I feel will do us well… Idress Gueye also shouldn’t be ignored in my view.. but who knows..
Trouble is, Potter loves JWP
Need to include JWP. £35m + JWP for example
Move on, Southampton are in cloud cuckoo land, he is not worth £30million…..yet and I doubt anyone else will look to pay much beyond £20million at max. I’d rather go get Pellegrini on a free plus another.
Why don’t we sign potters main target Harvey Elliot he’s available for £40 m and a far better player than any of the others?
Def not worth it, move on.
Lot of money for a 20 year with potential. I suppose the club have to weigh up how much he could possibly be worth in a few years if he progresses at the rate of a player like Declan Rice for instance worth over £100 million. How does fernandes compare to a player like Declan Rice at age 20? These are the factors that have to be looked at. Sensible investment for the future or rediculous punt?
A relegated player is tainted . Certainly worth a small money gamble but honestly even if he’s successful his top value is about 50 million ( current value 30 million ). Westham need to be prepared to move on to better value if need be and let Southampton deal with an unhappy player for a season . Westham know ( Kudus ) that player values can drop dramatically .
30million and send JWP back the other way
Time to walk away from this one and get real with less than 3 weeks to go.
They’re playing the field.
Whu drop out and let other 12 clubs fight over suggested £50m.
This is a fictional overpriced figure, he’s not worth it.
Southampton seem to have forgotten they are a Championship club now.
As previously suggested put a bid in for Tavernier_£30m good all rounder.
Surely West Ham won’t pay £30m +? All the targets we passed on because they were too expensive and then suddenly find £30m+ for this guy? I don’t understand.
I agree Paul, WHUcould buy Idrissa Gueye and Lille’s very fine Ngal’ayel Mukau for Fernandes money
Sounds like a much smarter move.
I doubt either of those are good enough for the Premier League today though maybe in the futur, it we haven’t the money to buy for the future atm. £40-50m seems the going rate now for decent Premier League players – just look at the sales made by Bournemouth
Isn’t that the point when your ambition is simply to be a feeder club?
i think you’ll find these figures are inaccurate Confirmed
If Lille would sell Martin and not look to hike up the price because it’s the PL.
Agree 100% Martin. Hope they’re reading your column!
Not worth that kind of money. JWP was £30m look at him slow and hasn’t done much for the team
He’s not worth more than £30m. Move on.