19 Jun 2026 21:03:08
Reports from James Cleary that the Fernandes deal has been agreed tonight £70m+ £10m add-ons.

1.) 20 Jun 2026
20 Jun 2026 14:53:14
The guy with 200 followers on X? He also said we signed Tonali.

2.) 20 Jun 2026
20 Jun 2026 19:09:30
Seems a ridiculous price to me.

He has had 2 seasons in the Premier League and been relegated both times. He may be a very good player, but way overpriced for me. For that price, every kick of the ball will be mentioned along with the price tag.

There must be better value out there.

3.) 21 Jun 2026
21 Jun 2026 00:26:41
Dunno, Fallguy. I think 60M + add-ons is value for him. Does 10M more mean it's awful value?
I don't think we can get Wharton, Scott, or any of those others for under 60M either, so that's just what the market is. 70M is high, but it's not ridiculous either.

4.) 21 Jun 2026
21 Jun 2026 01:58:59
Would rather we pushed for Tonali.

5.) 21 Jun 2026
21 Jun 2026 10:41:54
I think Mateus Fernandes could be a really good signing.

We've been linked with the likes of Baleba, Anderson, and Wharton all of whom have been touted at 80-100m or more in Anderson's case.

To be honest I don't see Fernandes as lesser of a player than any of them (Anderson obviously right now is a level above, but I think Fernandes can get to his level, he is 2 years younger and on a similar trajectory).

The price may seem a little steep, but that's the cost of players these days. If you want an average top half EPL midfielder then you're paying at least 50m. We paid around that for Ugarte. If you want either a top class or a player with top level potential then you're looking at 60-70m at a minimum.

Add to that teams know we need to buy midfielders this summer, then they will always push for as much as they can get from us.

West Ham's valuation of 80m seems excessive as they are a relegated club (I don't think many fans would quibble over 80m if they stayed up and Spurs went down), but let's get real, whether the club have been relegated or not that doesn't change the quality of the player.

There have been loads of really top level players signed from relegated, even players who have gone on to win the league and arguably be some of the best players in the league in their position. You get relegated as a team. If prime Messi played for Burnley last season he wouldn't have kept them up, but that wouldn't make Messi a bad player.

To be honest the only thing I've seen from Mateus Fernandes that makes me slightly question him as a potential signing is that he does seem to have a slight petulant steak not too dissimilar from his namesake Bruno. That tendency to throw his hands up in the air when things don't go his way, rather than get his head down and chase after the ball.

However, that hasn't stopped Bruno from being the best player in the league, and given that Mateus has named Bruno as one of his idols and Bruno has in recent seasons toned down that sort of behaviour; then I can't think of a better player than Bruno to help Mateus learn to limit that behaviour, and maybe even get it out of his game all together.

What I find most interesting about this potential signing is actually that is seems to further highlight the type of players we seem to be targeting.

Initially Baleba seemed to be the big target, a proper No.6, a specialist holding midfielder who'll protect the back four and add some defensive physicality in midfield. Yet we seem to have cooled a lot on him, maybe that's the price Brighton are demanding, maybe it's his drop in form this season, but I think it's more a change in direction in the kind of players we seem to want in midfield.

We seem to be moving away from more rigid "specialist" midfielders who you could categorise as a "holding midfielder" or a "deep lying playmaker", and we seems to be looking at more well rounded complete players with good technical ability and tactical understanding.

All of Ederson, Anderson, Mateus Fernandes, Tonali, Scott, and even Mamadou Sangare (who we've been linked with this week) are more energetic, hard working, but technically gifted No.8's, all round box to box players.

Mainoo is another who you'd describe as more of an all round box to box midfielder (although he might lack a little in intensity that the others have).

With Mainoo already at the club and with Ederson all but wrapped up, you'd think they would want to focus on someone who's more of a natural defensive shield, or even a player in the mould of our manager, that passing metronome who can control the tempo of the game with their passing.

Yet that doesn't seem to be the case, Baleba who we seem to have gone cold on and Tchouameni (who seems like it's more of a passing interest) are the only specialists holding type midfielders we have been linked with, and it seems more likely that we'll sign at least one of not two of Fernandes, Scott, or Sangare, or maybe someone else but in a similar mould.

It looks like we will start next season with 3 or 4 midfielders who are not specialists, but technically strong, physically capable, all round box to box midfielders.

Which personally I find really interesting from a tactical perspective.

To me that suggests that we will look to our defence to be the passing/tempo controlling players, probably with one full back looking to invert to give us a little more protection in front of the back line, giving the midfield the freedom to play more box to box and progress the ball (probably with more carries than line splitting passes). That might also explain our interest in Lewis Hall, and Myles Lewis-Skelly as possible LB options, as both like to invert as they started their careers as midfielders.

Personally I really like that tactical idea, it seems really on the pulse of how the game is tactically evolving right now. With more teams looking to defend man to man, meaning there is more emphasis on players being able to compete physically, but also looking to carry the ball forward to break lines and get the overload and outnumber your opposition, as passing is harder with all your players being man marked, and you still don't have a numbers advantage.