By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
So there it is. Mateus Fernandes in a Tottenham shirt.
Spurs have confirmed the signing on their official website, complete with the obligatory smiling photos and warm words from Roberto De Zerbi.
It’s certainly a strange sight.
Now the deal is finally complete, one thing stands out above everything else: West Ham got their price.
No Relegation Discount
Let’s not kid ourselves about the position the club found itself in.
Back-to-back relegations, first with Southampton and then with West Ham, hardly strengthened the Hammers’ negotiating position.
Yet the board held firm and secured exactly the figure they wanted.
As Claret & Hugh reported throughout the saga, the asking price never moved.
There was no relegation discount, no fire sale and no acceptance of offers well below the valuation.
It was £85 million or nothing—and £85 million is exactly what West Ham received.
Whatever anyone thinks of selling Fernandes, that’s a deal the club handled well.
Too Good To Keep
The reality is that Fernandes was never likely to remain at the London Stadium.
His quality meant interest from the very top of the Premier League was inevitable, and with Jorge Mendes acting as his agent, a major move always looked the most probable outcome.
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi summed up exactly why Spurs were so keen.
“I’ve admired Mateus for a long time because he combines quality on the ball with the intensity and intelligence that are so important in the way we want to play.”
When clubs are prepared to pay £85 million for a player, keeping hold of him after relegation becomes almost impossible.
A Deal That Works For Everyone
After weeks of posturing, speculation and bids that fell short of West Ham’s valuation, the transfer eventually reached a conclusion that arguably suits all parties.
Fernandes gets the Premier League football he wanted, Tottenham acquire one of the country’s brightest young midfielders, Southampton are expected to benefit from a sizeable sell-on clause, and West Ham receive £85 million to rebuild a squad capable of challenging for immediate promotion.
Those outcomes don’t come around very often.
Seeing Fernandes wearing lilywhite won’t sit comfortably with many supporters, but securing the club’s full valuation rather than being forced into a cut-price sale is another sign that West Ham’s new leadership are prepared to stand their ground.
Good player with greater potential. But he was only here for a year and probably would have moved even if we stayed up. Nobody seriously thought we’d get £85m guaranteed – including Man U. Full marks to the club’s new regime for standing firm.
Summerville will probably be next, and it’s clear he won’t be going for cheap either. Times have changed.
A great deal for all parties involved. Let’s move on now
I also dont recall hearing him moaning or trying to force a move
like some.
Gonzo, I think there are a couple of words missing – shouldn’t it read ‘interest from the very top of the Premier League and Tottenham’?
That’s what I thought. I hope he gets snapped up by a big club in January – narrowly avoiding a third consecutive relegation.
Mateus should’ve been given squad number 85 as a reminder every time he wears the shirt
Mateus who ?
Dead to all West Ham fans now,hope he goes on to have an absolutely awful career there.
Good business done by us though (finally), set a price and got exactly what we wanted,gone are the days of us selling players on the cheap and losing money on them.
Let’s hope we can invest it wisely into the squad and push for promotion.
Its going to be a tough old slog this Championship season but huge positives for the club going into next season,no Sullivan, no VAR
COYI