Destined to become the most expensive player ever sold by a Championship side, with the fee looking like it will easily outprice the £30 million paid for Joao Pedro by Brighton in 2023, Mateus Fernandes‘ desirability goes from strength to strength as serious bidders circle with the summer window now open for business.
And with Fernandes not part of the FIFA World Cup circus, the chase is very much ‘on’ for the handful of suitors planning to attract his signature.
Romano: West Ham are looking to get more than £85 million
Huge price looking ever more possible: Mateus Fernandes
Last night ‘in the know’ Fabrizio Romano dropped an update on his You Tube channel and revealed the staggering reality behind the price ambitions held at West Ham for their young midfielder.
““So we have to keep a close eye on Matheus Fernandes, because in this kind of deal, the feeling is that whoever brings the best proposal to West Ham — who are starting at £85 million and looking to get more, as they believe more clubs are joining the race day by day — will also be best placed to close the deal with the player. That’s the feeling around this story, and that is probably the key to understanding the future of Matheus Fernandes.”
With Manchester United and Tottenham apparently serious and the likes of Real Madrid and PSG ‘rumoured’ to be interested, West Ham sense a ‘Declan Rice’ moment for their midfield wonderkid.
“Starting at £85 million and looking to get more’ would suggest £90m-plus is the target. Even after Southampton’s 15% sell – on payment that’d represent a cool forty million profit. Give or take.
As Romano explained:
“What’s going to happen is that there will be more conversations with Tottenham, and more conversations with Manchester United, because don’t forget that Manchester United are working very, very hard on this deal. Manchester United are working hard on the club side with West Ham — they’ve already spoken about Matheus Fernandes — and they are also working on the player side with his agent. So Man United are still very much in the picture.”
As a ‘mere’ fan watching all of this unfold, you’d have to thank arch-rivals Tottenham for pushing up the price likely to be netted for the Portuguese star, whilst sensing that, having been twice relegated in the last two seasons, neither Fernandes nor his agent would plan a permanent move to N17 whilst a transfer to Old Trafford is in the offing.
“the most expensive player ever sold by a Championship side”
Surely that would be Matteus Fernandes … last year?
Thats what I thought!