Despite head coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s best efforts, the quietly spoken 52 year old former Portuguese goalkeeper could not keep us from suffering relegation, and West Ham United are set for at least a year in the second tier Championship as we approach the 2026/27 campaign.
Naturally, many Hammers fans right now will be taking a break from domestic football after the season we just had and will be allowing the triple hosted 2026 World Cup out in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico to serve as a welcome distraction.
But we all know that this is a huge summer (for more than one reason) at the London Stadium and most of the transfer window speculation rumour mill claims continue to concern first team players moving on for pastures new, and not the kind of links everyone wants that would see us strengthen both the quality and depth of the group to aim for promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking. Bookies Bonuses would seem to favour the patient fan who likes a flutter when it comes to us getting players in this year.
One player that we always knew would be in demand when the drop was confirmed as we finished in 18th place in the table was Mateus Fernandes. The 21 year old, one capped full Portuguese international midfielder, joined us last summer for a reported £38 million from Southampton, and he went on to feature 37 times for the first team starting XI, with a single additional showing from the bench. He also scored four times.
After plenty of speculation, over the weekend it began being reported that with it known that both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, that Spurs had now stolen a march on the other sides interested in him and had entered an ‘advanced talks’ stage having intimated that they would be willing to beat any wage and bonus offers put on the table by others, so there was now an expectation that a deal could now be wrapped up sooner rather than later.
However, slightly contradicting that claim is the fact that it is stated that talks continue with both sides right now, and at least as of so far, the player himself has not yet shown any kind of preference for either side as a future and potential destination.
The truth of the matter is that it seems very much like standard fare for this time of the summer window, nobody has any real idea what is actually going on so ‘sauces’ are being dribbled on bacon and egg sandwiches, and everyone seems to be repeating as fact the very little that is known and quoting each other as proof.
When you factor in the future of the likes of Sandro Tonali, Adam Wharton, Alex Scott, and Elliot Anderson and notice that maybe Anderson aside now, they are all being linked with the very same pool of clubs, the only thing that is known for absolutely sure is that unless Fernandes himself definitely wants out and has a preference, or the Board have definitely decided to sell him to help balance our books – this one could rumble on for quite a while yet.
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