On a night in which Graham Potter’s team selection again came in for criticism, Mateus Fernandes was nowhere to be seen as Southampton went one step further than West Ham United in this season’s Carabao Cup.
Just like that 3-0 humbling by Sunderland on matchday one, Freddie Potts was forced to watch on from the bench as the much and probably deservedly-maligned Guido Rodriguez gifted Wolves the lead.
Hammers legend Tony Gale called Rodriguez’s defending ‘lazy’. A dangling leg which Hwang Hee Chan was only too happy to trip over. A la Wearside, Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse provided little resistance and even less creativity.
To think, Graham Potter once had the luxury of fielding Pascal Gross, Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister down the road at Brighton.
Clearly, Potter has reservations about throwing Potts in at the deep end despite an excellent pre-season and the fact that many at West Ham United – captain Jarrod Bowen included – feel the Barking-born academy graduate will be 2025/26’s breakout star.
Mateus Fernandes, though, may just be the immediate, straight-into-the-starting-XI midfield upgrade Potter needs if he is to save his job.
Fernandes was nowhere to be seen as Southampton enjoyed the sort of midweek evening West Ham could have only dreamed of, though head coach Will Still insisted at full-time that the Iberian’s absence does not mean he has his bags packed and a flight scheduled for London.
Will Still explains Mateus Fernandes’ Southampton absence as West Ham United hold out hope
While West Ham look set to sign Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa – beating Nottingham Forest to an initial £14 million deal – the France Under-21 international solves only part of Potter’s midfield problem.
While Magassa is a number six in the Moises Caicedo mould, the Hammers also need someone capable of playing further forward, driving into the penalty area while providing the intensity in and out of possession that Ward-Prowse and co cannot.
Mateus Fernandes aced his London Stadium audition in April and remains a priority target heading into the final days of the window. Anyone getting ahead of themselves at the sight of Fernandes being left off Southampton’s team sheet for their 3-0 victory away at Norwich City, however, should calm themselves for a moment.
“No, it’s nothing to do with transfers or anything like that,” Saints coach Will Still said, telling the Daily Echo that Fernandes was simply rested on a night of multiple alterations.
“We left Matty at home just for recovery, but that’s it.”
West Ham ‘all in on Fernandes’ but Will Still’s Saints want £40 million
The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg reported last week that Southampton had rejected a second West Ham bid worth up to £32 million for former Sporting Lisbon kid Fernandes.
Alternative targets include the likes of Kenneth Taylor, Djaoui Cisse, Andy Diouf and Romano Schmidt, while Hammers News have been informed that a £17.5 million offer was made to Torino’s Ivan Ilic.
Feyenoord director Dennis te Kloese, however, insists that West Ham have not approached Quinten Timber, with all eyes still firmly fixed on Fernandes.
“They are all in now on Fernandes now,” chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey told Hammers News. “I have been told West Ham will go to £40 million for him overall, which Southampton will accept, but it might take a few bids.
“I’m not sure how many bids it will take but [West Ham] effectively know £40 million is the number they need to get to.”
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