West Ham United fans may be deeply averse to any transfer dealings with their north London neighbours, but newspapers and web site sources are full of reports linking Tottenham with Hammers’ star wonderkid Mateus Fernandes.
Following on from the deeply unpopular sale of Mohammed Kudus, an £85m deal sending Fernandes up the road to the Spurs would rub salt into the wounds of Hammers supporters still trying to come to terms with relegation.
Business is business, however, and football is big business. As Claret and Hugh wrote this morning, West Ham cannot afford to be picky over Fernandes’ destination and whether the bid comes from Saturn or Spurs, £85 million needs grabbing and banking as soon as it appears on the table.
Mateus Fernandes drops to the floor at the London Stadium
Spurs may well want Fernandes but why would Fernandes choose Spurs?
However – and this is opinion only, of course, I just wonder. Fernandes’ agent Jorge Mendes is well known for his manipulation of the media to screw the best out of the market and this does have all the hallmarks of behind the scenes hype. As Manchester United – fan site thepeoplesperson.com observed yesterday:
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“there is a growing sense in M16 that the noise around Fernandes is being primarily driven by Mendes, who has a well-earned reputation for extracting maximum value for his clients through these exact tactics.”
Logically, why would Fernandes, at 21, choose last seasons’ seventeenth placed (and almost relegated) side for a career when Old Trafford, Champions League football and a link-up with his Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes is an option?
After two relegations in a row, surely any player – and his agent – would be hugely risk averse when choosing his next move. One might almost suspect that there’s a little work going on behind the scenes to bump Manchester United towards a figure they didn’t want to pay.
For Fernandes to choose a bottom-dweller compared to a Champions League title contender seems counter intuitive. Which makes the talk of Mendes’ pot stirring behind the scenes all the more plausible.