Fabrizio Romano has revealed Tottenham Hotspur are now in talks with the agents of Mateus Fernandes as they look to agree personal terms and beat Manchester United to his signing, while TEAMtalk understands that West Ham have also reached a big decision on the sales of Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen.
The West Ham star is already one of this summer’s big transfer stories after our sources confirmed back on June 2 that he has been cleared to leave the London Stadium following the Hammers’ relegation to the second tier.
And while the Championship new boys are standing by their £85m valuation of Fernandes, their hopes would seemingly depend on an auction taking place for his services, with the likes of Real Madrid and PSG, so far, deeming that price too high.
That fee is also problematic for chief suitors Manchester United, who are very much keen on the player and want to make the 21-year-old their second midfield addition of the summer after Ederson.
And while they have made progress in convincing the player to make the move, Tottenham‘s entry into the race – at the insistence of ambitious manager Roberto De Zerbi – threatens to throw a major spanner in the works.
Now Romano has provided an update on the saga – and it is Spurs who appear to be making gains, though it’s still too soon to write United off.
Speaking on his YouTube channel late on Sunday night, Romano revealed: “According to my information, Tottenham are talking to the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, and they are pushing to reach an agreement with the player – but still nothing guaranteed, still nothing closed.
“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…”
Romano also admits a third suitor could soon enter the race, too, to make the race even more complicated…
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Indeed, Romano still thinks Real Madrid could enter the equation, though believes the saga could change day by day and with Spurs and United currently the sides to watch.
“The name of Matheus Fernandes was also put forward by José Mourinho as one of the options for midfield, in case they need one more addition,” Romano added.
“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.
“This is a very, very interesting deal to follow. There is movement, there are clubs attracted — Tottenham are there, Manchester United are there — and again, let’s see what happens at Real Madrid in midfield as they wait for exits.
“Another very interesting situation heading into a very interesting week. Stay tuned for all the latest on all these names and much more.”
Meanwhile, TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed on Saturday that West Ham hope to avoid significant other sales this summer should they manage to offload Fernandes for their £85m valuation.
That’s after he learned that Daniel Kretinsky, now the club’s de facto owner and driving force, is determined to avoid a mass exodus this summer.
As a result, we understand the Czech billionaire believes only one major player – United and Spurs target Fernandes – should be sacrificed to fund the club’s rebuild amid a big new demand from Bowen.
That stance will also impact United’s chase for a second West Ham star in Summerville, though is now reported that Arsenal are ready to make a shock move to hijack the deal.