Manchester United are exploring a potential deal for West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes.
Sky Sports News understands West Ham value Fernandes at around £80m and are in no rush to sell the player. The Hammers signed the Portuguese midfielder for an initial fee of £38m last summer.
United are continuing to do background work on Fernandes as he is seen as a realistic deal after the Hammers’ relegation, with midfield remaining a priority for the club to strengthen this window.
The club have already agreed a £38m deal to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson.
Decision makers inside the club believe Fernandes was one of the best young players in the Premier League last season and has the potential to become as good as Declan Rice.
West Ham aren’t ruling out Fernandes staying to help them achieve promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking but are aware of the difficulty in that, with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain also reported to be interested in the player. No formal offers have been made as West Ham wait to see who shows their hand first.
As of now, there has been no official contact between the two clubs and West Ham are in no rush to sell Fernandes early on in the window unless their valuation is met.
Fernandes made 42 appearances in all competitions for West Ham last season, 36 in the Premier League, contributing five goals and five assists in total for Nuno Espírito Santo’s team.
Relegated twice – so why do Man Utd want Fernandes?
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz:
Last season, Fernandes proved his status as one of the Premier League’s toughest tacklers and it’s a feature that stands out for those who know him.
“That’s no surprise that his tackling stats are very high,” Simon Rusk, who worked with Fernandes at Southampton, tells Sky Sports.
“Both speaking to him and observing him, I could see that would be a feature in his game – and a strength.”
Alongside the tough-tackling nature is a lot of high-intensity running to get to the challenge in the first place.
Fernandes sits in the top 10 Premier League midfielders for distance covered. And again, it follows the same pattern: if Anderson is the best first-choice option on the market, then Fernandes is pretty much the next best option available.
It wasn’t always the plan when Fernandes was signed by Southampton; he was seen by then boss Russell Martin as a more advanced option.
“He was used as a little bit more as a No 10, a little bit more of an advanced role,” he says. “But when I spoke to Matty through conversations with him, quite apparently, he saw himself as more of an all-round midfield player, more of a No 8.
“And that would lend himself to the defensive side of the game. What Matty wanted to do, he wanted to run. He wanted to be involved in the game as much as possible.
“But certainly, looking at his performances at West Ham this year, he certainly moved forward in terms of his game intelligence and mixed in with his strength, his tenacity and his engine.”
West Ham noticed that desire for Fernandes to play slightly deeper too – using him mainly as a hybrid option between a No 6 and a No 8 in the season just gone.
Read more here.
Man Utd-bound Ederson receives Brazil call-up
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Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson – but what can they expect from the Brazilian?
Manchester United-bound Ederson has been called up to Brazil’s World Cup squad as a late injury replacement.
The midfielder is set to replace Roma full-back Wesley, who sustained an injury during the 2-1 pre-tournament win over Egypt.
United have agreed a deal to sign the 26-year-old Ederson from Atalanta.
Sky Sports News understands United will pay an initial fee of £34m (€40.5m) plus £3.8m (€4.5m) in potential add-ons.
Ederson is set to sign a four-year deal at the club with an option to extend his stay for an additional 12 months.
