BOTH OF Manchester United’s 1-1 draws with West Ham last season were forgettable but their recruitment department did not forget about Mateus Fernandes.
Fernandes started at Old Trafford and the London Stadium and must have passed muster now that United are ready to dedicate a chunk of their budget on the Portuguese.
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Fernandes played against United in February Credit: PA
Fernandes played at Old Trafford for Southampton
At West Ham in February, Fernandes outranked United stalwart Casemiro for passing accuracy and tackles won.
The Portuguese also recorded more than double the number of recoveries that Casemiro did as West Ham became the first side to deny United victory under Michael Carrick.
Casemiro predictably had more of the ball than Fernandes but the 21-year-old was in the top ten for most possession won in the Premier League last term.
Fernandes first caught the eye of United director of football Jason Wilcox when he was at Sporting Lisbon and Wilcox was the director of football at Southampton. Four months after Wilcox upped sticks for United in April 2024, Southampton bought Fernandes.
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Two successive relegations with two dire teams has not harmed Fernandes’s stock. Arsenal and Real Madrid were both interested before they stepped aside.
Arsenal have been deterred by West Ham’s £80million valuation while Madrid expect Fernandes to join United.
Fernandes ticks most of the boxes for United: Premier League pedigree, in his early twenties and, somewhat bizarrely, Portuguese.
Michael Carrick sees Paris Saint-Germain as the benchmark for United amid their midfield overhaul. Joao Neves and Vitinha, PSG’s bedrock, are Portugal internationals.
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Fernandes first came up against United in September 2024
Their clout should have softened the blow for Fernandes after he failed to make the cut for Portugal’s 26-man World Cup squad.
The bonus for United is it frees up Fernandes this summer. Had Ederson not been called up to the Brazil squad at the 11th hour after injury to full back Wesley, United could have picked two new signings against Wrexham in Helsinki on July 18.
That is a reasonable target date for United to conclude a deal for Fernandes, despite the deep disarray at West Ham.
United may have to be patient in concluding a deal with a club that last sold them a player in 1989. David Sullivan recently resigned and Karen Brady stepped down as vice-chair in April.
Fernandes is West Ham’s most valuable asset and will not be sticking around in the Championship. His agent, Jorge Mendes, will see to that.
Mendes has a long history with United dating back to Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in 2003. After he rejoined United in 2021, Ed Woodward hugged Mendes in the directors’ box ahead of Ronaldo’s second coming.
More recently, United chief executive Omar Berrada has dealt with Mendes to bring in Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte. Mendes had a fruitful relationship with Manchester City when Berrada was there, facilitating the transfers of Bernardo, Nicolas Otamendi, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes.
There are still plenty of Portuguese in the building at United despite the mass exodus when Ruben Amorim was sacked in January.
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United already have two Portugal internationals Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot Credit: Getty
The besuited Acácio Valentim remains the operations manager, William Carvalho is the head chef and Filipe Sousa the main nutritionist.
Beyond the backroom staff, Fernandes and Diogo Dalot are compatriots of Fernandes, while he has Portuguese-speaking namesake Matheus Cunha and former Sporting team-mate Manuel Ugarte to share a dressing room with.
Fernandes’s most important colleague is likely to be Kobbie Mainoo. Fernandes is nine months older than Mainoo but the United academy graduate will have to assume the senior role in midfield.
Mainoo spent more than three years listening, watching and learning from Casemiro and, at 21, has to come of age now that his future is secured.
In United’s final game of the season, Mainoo was partnered by Tyler Fletcher for the final 16 minutes. United were 3-0 up and strolling but it was a useful spell for Mainoo to turn into a mentor.
In one passage, Fletcher quickly killed and shifted the ball to Mainoo, who played a prompt pass to Shea Lacey on the right-hand side. Mainoo immediately urged Fletcher to move further forward.
We have hardly seen that side of Mainoo but it was an encouraging sign in United’s first game post-Casemiro.
United will never regret releasing Casemiro, despite the ridiculous and repeated chants of “one more year” from United fans who should know better.
Casemiro should not be a major miss Credit: Getty
Mainoo could be a key man next season Credit: Getty
In New Jersey on Saturday, Casemiro was booked and substituted in Brazil’s watchable 1-1 draw with Morocco. The man of the match was the 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Carrick will be banking on Mainoo to grow as a leader and a player at United. Carrick certainly did, gradually transforming from the “shy boy who needed shaking at times”, according to Sir Alex Ferguson, into a captain and then coach under Jose Mourinho.
Midfielders Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes turned 21 in the 1995-96 season. David Beckham and Gary Neville also celebrated those milestones that campaign.
At the start of it, Alan Hansen dismissed United’s chances of success on the opening day, declaring “You can’t win anything with kids” on Match of the Day. United won the Premier League and the FA Cup.
