West Ham are poised to sign Mateus Fernandes from Southampton for a fee of about £38m. Talks progressed swiftly on Wednesday and it is understood the 21-year-old midfielder has undergone a medical in London.
West Ham have been hunting for midfield reinforcements and are also poised to finalise personal terms with Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa, who will cost €17m (£14.7m) plus €3m in add-ons.
Graham Potter, who is under pressure after a dreadful start to the season, has been looking to make two additions in midfield. He wants a No 6 to break up and control play, and a No 8 to add creativity and energy in the final third.
Magassa, 21, is regarded as the sitting player. The France Under-21 international underwent a medical on Wednesday and is poised to sign a six-year deal. West Ham had to fend off interest in Magassa from Nottingham Forest, who wanted to loan him to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Forest’s attempt at a hijack piqued Frankfurt’s interest in Magassa, leading the Bundesliga side to explore whether they could muscle in on the deal on Wednesday. Magassa remained insistent that he wanted to join West Ham.
Potter will hope that landing two promising young midfielders alters the mood at the London Stadium. West Ham made Fernandes their top target as a No8 but had two offers turned down. Southampton demanded at least £50m for Fernandes, who joined for £12m last year. It seemed a deal was unlikely when Southampton, who are looking for an immediate return to the Premier League, sold Tyler Dibling to Everton. They had indicated only one of Dibling and Fernandes would go.
West Ham’s previous offer for Fernandes was £30m plus £2m in add-ons. Sources indicated a deal would be possible for a fixed fee of £35m plus a significant sell-on clause. A compromise has been reached on an initial fee of £35m plus £3m in add-ons, as well as a 15% sell-on clause.
Fernandes is expected to sign his contract on Thursday. West Ham are also looking to sign a fast striker.
