Mateus Fernandes has shown Manchester United what he can offer ahead of another Red Devils-linked player if the Premier League club signs him from West Ham.
The 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder completed his first full season at West Ham, which ended with the Hammers being relegated from the Premier League.
Despite West Ham falling into the Championship, Mateus Fernandes was a standout for the Hammers during their ill-fated 2025-26 Premier League campaign.
West Ham signed the Portugal star from Southampton in 2025, but they face a real challenge in preventing the likes of Manchester United from signing Fernandes.
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Mateus Fernandes’ Premier League stats from the 2025-26 campaign show where he was better than Elliot Anderson
Manchester United are not the only club interested in Mateus Fernandes, with the West Ham ace attracting interest from both Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.
Fernandes is under contract at the London Stadium until 2030 and the Hammers and Portugal midfielder is being valued at a hefty £80m transfer fee this summer.
Elliot Anderson has also attracted Man Utd’s interest this summer, but Manchester City are believed to be the favourites to land the 23-year-old Nottingham Forest star.
According to Sky Sports, Fernandes won the third most tackles (67) in the Premier League last season, which puts him ahead of fifth-place Elliot Anderson (63).
Fernandes’ ability to excel at winning tackles as a midfielder did not come as a big surprise to one key figure who worked with the Hammers star at Southampton.
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Former Southampton interim manager Simon Rusk reacted to Mateus Fernandes’ midfield stat surpassing Elliot Anderson’s
Simon Rusk served as interim boss at Southampton while Fernandes was at the club and he admitted that the Hammers midfielder’s tackling stats were to be expected.
“That’s no surprise that his tackling stats are very high,” he told Sky Sports.
“Both speaking to him and observing him, I could see that would be a feature in his game – and a strength.”
Ground duels were another area where Fernandes performed incredibly well, with the United-linked midfielder ranking third after he won 180 tackles last season.
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