Mateus Fernandes has been given the ‘green light’ by West Ham to undergo a medical at Tottenham, according to reports, but Spurs are looking to eclipse that deal with their latest offer for Sandro Tonali.
Spurs avoided relegation on the final day of the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Everton, and the Tottenham hierarchy are determined not to face the same situation next term.
Tottenham have already completed four signings in the summer transfer window with Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka all arriving on free transfers from Liverpool, Bournemouth and Burnley respectively, while Jan Paul van Hecke has joined in a deal worth £52m from Brighton.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano and other widespread reports revealed on Tuesday that Tottenham had beaten Manchester United to the signing of West Ham midfielder Fernandes.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “It’s done—Matheus Fernandes will play for Tottenham Hotspur and not for Manchester United. Man United have been in conversation for a long time with Fernandes until Tuesday morning. I can guarantee to you that before lunchtime, Manchester United were still in contact with the agent of the player, still in contact with West Ham.
“But what made the difference is the transfer fee, because Manchester United were not matching the £85m valuation in full. They were never going to pay £85 million in full, but they were prepared to reach £85 million including add-ons.
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“Tottenham arrived with an £85 million guaranteed fee—a fixed fee, no add-ons, no future stories. West Ham have the guarantee they wanted. £85 million for a player strongly wanted by Roberto De Zerbi.
“De Zerbi was pushing like crazy behind the scenes to get Fernandes. It was not easy for Tottenham to get the green light from the player with Man United involved to play in Champions League football. Tottenham were in trouble till the final day of the Premier League season, so it’s a completely different situation.
“But now we can say that Tottenham have agreed all terms with Matheus Fernandes and also with West Ham. So, £85 million—the most expensive deal in history for Tottenham.
“Tottenham remain in conversations with Newcastle for Sandro Tonali. So we have to see also the outcome of that conversation between Tottenham and Newcastle, but for sure they are working very hard to rebuild the midfield.”
Fernandes ‘medical’ at Tottenham and Tonali offer
And now Romano has revealed that West Ham have provided the ‘green light’ that will see Fernandes undergo a medical at Tottenham after Spurs had a £85m bid accepted.
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‘Mateus Fernandes has permission to undergo medical tests as new Tottenham player. Green light from West Ham as they receive £85m fixed fee, a club record signing for Tottenham.’
Tottenham could break their transfer record again this week with Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla indicating that Spurs have made another ‘offer’ of over €100m (£86m).
Pedulla wrote on X: ‘#Tonali: the announced offer from #Tottenham to #Newcastle is ready to close (over 100 million euros) #Tonali is getting closer to #Tottenham from #Newcastle.’
Sport Mediaset revealed earlier this week that Tottenham were ‘confident’ of finalising a deal for Tonali and ‘hope to close the deal this week’.
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