West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes will be the subject of a “bidding war”, according to ExWHUEmployee.
Writing on The West Ham Way Patreon (quotes via their website), the trusted insider said that there are now 10 clubs interested in signing the Portuguese international:
“In fact it is thought he has interest from a whole host of top European teams. Inter Milan, Napoli, Juventus, Manchester United, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Aston Villa are all clubs that are credited with having interest.”
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“This puts West Ham in a good position. Whilst it is a huge disappointment to obviously lose a player of this quality, it is inevitable following our disastrous season. What works well for us is the sheer number of clubs that are interested. This can be used to create a bidding war.”
“West Ham insist they do not want to sell the player, but I don’t think they will have much choice, as the player will wish to join one of these clubs rather than play in the Championship and, as said, money is needed.”
“The club hope with this many clubs interested, they could command a fee of around £80m. No club has officially made an offer yet, but the club are braced for these to come in. The market is usually slower when a World Cup is on.”
Who will be first to make a bid for Fernandes?
It is widely expected that Manchester United will be the ones to make the first move. There have been reports that the Red Devils have been in contact with the Hammers to get details on the price tag.
Michael Carrick’s team were said to be contemplating an offer closer to £40m, but such a proposal would be rejected out of hand. One of the reasons for that is Southampton have a 15% sell-on clause, so to make a profit, West Ham need a figure much higher than the £42m he was signed for.
Who could meet West Ham’s valuation?
Out of the clubs named by Ex, you could probably rule out Inter Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Aston Villa and maybe even Atletico Madrid from paying £80m.
Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid would not have any issue matching the figure, while Premier League teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United could reach that number if forced to by competition from elsewhere.
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