Man Utd could be beaten to the signing of top midfield target Mateus Fernandes as he reportedly favours a move to Tottenham this summer.
After performing well for West Ham last season, despite the Hammers’ relegation to the Championship, Fernandes is being courted by several clubs.
Man Utd, Tottenham and Real Madrid have so far showed the strongest interest, although none of them have officially submitted an offer to West Ham.
The Red Devils had seemed nailed on to sign Fernandes this summer before rumours emerged that Spurs are ‘ready to offer’ a huge amount to get the Portugal international to move to north London.
Italian journalist Nicolo Schira recently insisted that Tottenham are willing to pay £70m for the West Ham star and that Man Utd and Real Madrid were also still in the race to sign Fernandes.
Schira wrote on X: ‘Excl. – #Tottenham are ready to offer 70M to #WestHam to try to sign #MatheusFernandes, who is still a target of #ManchesterUnited and #RealMadrid. Race ongoing. #transfers #THFC #WHUFC.’
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Before transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said on his YouTube channel: “According to my information, Tottenham are talking to the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, and they are pushing in order 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…”
And now Schira is back on Tuesday to claim that Tottenham have now overtaken Man Utd in the race to sign Fernandes from West Ham.
Schira wrote on X: ‘Excl. – #Tottenham are pushing to sign #MatheusFernandes, who has given his availability for a contract until 2031 + option for 2032. #THFC are now in talks with #WestHam to try to close the deal overtaking #ManchesterUnited, which are very interested in him. #transfers #THFC.’
Real Madrid pull plug as Fernandes ‘prefers’ Tottenham
Spanish newspaper AS claimed earlier in the day that Real Madrid have now pulled the plug on their interest in signing Fernandes as the midfielder ‘prefers to go to Tottenham’ this summer.
Real Madrid have instead ‘already set in motion negotiations’ to sign Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez instead as they look to satisfy Jose Mourinho.
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Former Man Utd defender Gary Neville reckons Germany international Felix Nmecha could be a better option at a lower price for the Red Devils if they give up on Fernandes.
Neville said on ITV Sport: “The more he plays like he did the other night the more expensive he’ll get.
“But at the moment, we hear Manchester United are being quoted £100 million for the West Ham boy Fernandes, so they’re going to have to be looking around this tournament and parts of Europe.
“He looked outstanding the other night, it looked like he had absolutely everything.”