West Ham are poised to sign Mateus Fernandes from Southampton for a fee of about £38m. Talks progressed swiftly 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 expected 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 at least 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.
The arrivals of Magassa and Fernandes could be followed by a third midfielder. West Ham are pondering whether to intensify their interest in Feyernoord’s Quinten Timber.
Magassa, 21, is regarded as the sitting player. The France Under‑21 international had a medical on Wednesday and is likely 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 No 8 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 in a £42m deal. 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.
Havertz has minor surgery
Kai Havertz has had minor surgery to fix a wear-and-tear-related issue in his knee. The Arsenal forward played in his club’s opening game at Manchester United and reported pain after it, at which point it was decided he had to rest or have surgery. The latter course of action has been chosen.
The initial signs were that the problem was not serious, rather a natural consequence of playing so many minutes at the highest level for almost a decade. The 26-year-old broke through at Bayern Leverkusen in 2016-17.
Havertz sustained his first major injury setback last February when he damaged a hamstring and was out for three months. His absence this time is not expected to be long term. An Arsenal statement read: “Today, Kai underwent a successful minor surgical procedure. He will shortly begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, with everyone fully focused on supporting Kai to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.” David Hytner
Fernandes is expected to sign his contract on Thursday. West Ham, who are also hoping to sign a fast striker and a loan goalkeeper, could sanction the departure of Guido Rodríguez on a free transfer to Espanyol. Andy Irving is also up for sale and West Ham rejected a bid from Everton for Tomas Soucek this week.
Aston Villa retain an interest in Lucas Paquetá but are unlikely to be able to afford to sign the midfielder on a permanent deal. West Ham are reluctant to lose the Brazilian and feel he owes them another season after they stood by him before he was cleared of breaching the Football Association’s betting regulations.
Southampton will reinvest funds from the sales of Fernandes and Dibling. They are working on deals for Middlesbrough’s Finn Azaz, West Brom’s Tom Fellows and Nuremberg’s Caspar Jander.
Crystal Palace have approached Monaco over a loan deal for Mohammed Salisu but could face competition from Bologna and Olympiakos for the Ghana defender. It is understood talks are ongoing over a deal for Salisu, who spent three seasons at Southampton before joining Monaco on a five-year deal in 2023, as Palace step up attempts to reinforce Oliver Glasner’s squad.
Bologna are in talks over a deal to sell Jhon Lucumí to Sunderland and are thought to regard Salisu as a potential replacement for the Colombia defender.
Palace want defensive additions even if Marc Guéhi stays, with Liverpool yet to meet the £40m valuation for the England defender. Palace have approached Manchester City over a £15m deal for Manuel Akanji but are waiting for a decision from the Switzerland defender, who also has interest from Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen.
Yeremy Pino is having his medical on Thursday after a fee worth up to £26m for the Spain international was agreed with Villarreal this week, and Palace are also interested in signing Reiss Nelson from Arsenal, Christos Tzolis of Club Brugge or Conor Gallagher from Atlético Madrid.
Wolves have completed the signing of the Girona defender Ladislav Krejci. Wolves consider Krejci a permanent signing but the Czech Republic centre-back has joined on an initial loan. Wolves will trigger a £20m permanent move after a number of appearances.
Krejci joined the La Liga club last year from Sparta Prague, where the 26-year-old won two league titles. He becomes Vítor Pereira’s fifth summer signing but the Wolves manager still wants to add a midfielder and a forward. They are interested in the Genk forward Tolu Arokodare.
Brentford are preparing an offer for the Borussia Dortmund striker Maximilian Beier. Brentford have strengthened in attack with the club record signing of Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth for £42.5m but Bryan Mbeumo has joined Manchester United and the club are in danger of losing Yoane Wissa to Newcastle. Sources in Germany have indicated that Brentford could bid €45m for Beier. The 22-year-old Germany striker joined Dortmund from Hoffenheim last August and scored 10 goals in all competitions.
