Mateus Fernandes won’t be sticking around if West Ham are relegated, according to reports.
TalkSPORT journalist Alex Crook has revealed that the midfielder will “seek to leave” the London Stadium if Nuno Espirito Santo’s side don’t avoid the drop.
Fernandes only arrived from Southampton last August for a fee of around £42m, but he has quickly established himself as one of the Hammers’ best players.
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However, he has also impressed other clubs with his performances, and he won’t be short of suitors if he does depart at the end of the season.
Fernandes has admirers at Old Trafford
Manchester United are said to be scouting the 21-year-old, with the Red Devils looking to add reinforcements to their midfield this summer.
Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, Sandro Tonali and Carlos Baleba are reportedly the names at the top of the Manchester side’s shortlist of targets.
It is not entirely clear where Fernandes features among their priorities, as it appears they are only keeping tabs on the player at this stage.
What are the chances of West Ham staying up?
The Irons will undoubtedly be in a much stronger position to keep Fernandes if they are able to get out of trouble. Results over the past two months have dramatically improved to the point they are now in touching distance of safety.
Statisticians Opta still think that Nuno’s men are favourites for relegation (46.89%) ahead of Nottingham Forest (28.66%) and Tottenham (17.60%), but their odds are much more favourable than they were.
Only a couple of weeks ago, Opta gave West Ham a probability of going down as high as 72%, so things have changed markedly in that regard.
Of course, West Ham still have work to do, but they have given themselves more than a fighting chance of retaining their top-flight status.
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