The summer window for West Ham ended on a high note with David Sullivan splashing the cash in response to Potter’s first games ending in defeats and the panic set in.. Which meant that Soungoutou Magassa and Mateus Fernandes were signed at a combined cost of over £55 million.
Both have shown their worth this Autumn with Magassa putting in a man of the match performance at Old Trafford and Fernandes – just seemingly putting in man of the match performances weekly.
His incredible contribution for one so young – he’s still just twenty one years old – has been recognised by the brilliantly – named ‘wonderkid ratings’ which ranks the top ten young talents in the Premier League according to their most recent performances.
West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes: Top ranked Premier League wonderkid
Fernandes was ranked fourth last time out but, in case proof were needed that the Hammers have signed a world class player, he’s outperformed the lot this week: Adam Wharton, Michael Kayode, Lewis Hall, Nico O’reilly – every top talent has been left trailing in the young Hammers midfielder’s wake as he has scooped the number one slot in 3addedminutes’ rankings:
“It’s finally time to give Fernandes, a staple of these lists for a year or so without ever being number one, to get his flowers – a reward both for remarkable consistency on a pretty poor West Ham team, and for an outstanding performance against Brighton over the weekend.
The Portuguese midfielder was absolutely everywhere at the Amex Stadium, racking up defensive contributions (five tackles, four interceptions, six turnovers and two blocked shots is far more than the average centre-back manages on any given day), winning an incredible 16 of 17 ground duels, drawing five fouls and sparking several promising attacks when he won the ball back.”
Absolutely everywhere, huge stats and I suspect more to come, with Fernandes so far mostly deployed as defensive asset.
He wasn’t bad against Manchester United, either (when he forced eight turnovers in one game) and it’s now some time since he put in a performance that was anything close to being below average. A brilliant player proving, once again, that he can thrive in the Premier League even when the team around him is struggling.”
Proof that, just occasionally, David Sullivan puts his hand in his pocket and gets it right. I confess I didn’t believe the club would ever fork out £40 million for a relegated player but – that just proves how little I know. And it’s just as well they did.
West Hams transfer business this summer (’25) was overall very positive. Makes a change?
there sell him
Need to follow this with another £40m for an established striker..
Plus whatever a decent c/bk costs.
Sully needs to put his Santa outfit on and grant all wishes.
Hard to tell what you’re more excited about Martin, the fact that we actually got a good deal or the formal adoption of the over-used category? As a guide to what we should expect to pay in January, their combined cost was closer to £57m if you include performance add-ons. Given we need at least a proven central striker and a defender, we should be ready to part with £60-70m to have a reasonable chance of PL football in August 2026.