While West Ham United continue to speed down the Mateus Fernandes highway, other routes have presented themselves. Roads leading to Chelsea, Barcelona and even Spain.
Hammers News have been informed, via chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that West Ham United could finally secure Mateus Fernandes’ signature with an offer in the region of £40 million.
Such an offer is, however, merely hypothetical at this stage.
Southampton rejected an improved Hammers bid worth just £32 million this week, having already turned down their opening £30 million proposal.
But while the Portugal Under-21 ace has emerged as the club’s preferred option heading into the final few days of the transfer window – Mateus Fernandes aced his London Stadium audition back in April – Graham Potter and co have been careful not to put all their eggs in the same, Southampton-based basket.
Chelsea rebuffed West Ham’s Andrey Santos approach earlier this month, per reports from Brazil. Also ‘unsuccessful’ was their bid to sign Barcelona’s latest La Masia marvel, Marc Casado.
But, in an intriguing new report provided by The Guardian, Santos and Casado are not the only names sitting alongside Fernandes on the list.
West Ham United keen on Kenneth Taylor, Christantos Uche and Ligue 1 duo
Romano Schmid is not a new name mentioned in the media. West Ham were linked with Werder Bremen’s Austrian ace back in July. Feyenoord ace Quentin Timber was mentioned earlier this week too.
But Christantos Uche [Getafe], Kenneth Taylor [Ajax], Ivan Ilic [Torino], Djaoui Cisse [Rennes] and Andy Diouf [Lens] may all be newer, more unfamiliar names to keep tabs on.
The Guardian suggests that, while Graham Potter feels Fernandes is the ideal number eight for his snail-paced midfield, Taylor, Ilic, Cisse and Diouf are also admired in East London.
Uche, meanwhile, has been a revelation since being transformed into a 6ft 3ins powerhouse of a centre-forward in La Liga, and may be considered as an alternative to Niclas Fullkrug as well as a much-needed reinforcement further back.
Nigeria international Uche marked the new Spanish football season with a goal and an assist in a devastating display during Getafe’s 2-0 win at Celta Vigo.
Over in the Netherlands, Kenneth Taylor and Quinten Timber have made their name as ball-carrying, purposeful, left-sided midfielders with a penchant for bursting into the penalty box. Dutch icon Rafael van der Vaart calls Timber a Champions League-level operator these days, while Taylor accumulated 15 goals for Eredivisie runners-up Ajax.
The Guardian add that West Ham have ‘intensively’ kept abreast of the next generation of rising talents in French football. Lille’s Ngal’ayel Mukau could fill an Amadou Onana-shaped hole, while Djaoui Cisse and Andy Diouf also fit the mould of physically imposing yet highly-technical, all-round enforcers.
Former Manchester City starlet Ivan Ilic considered for England return
West Ham reserve coach Mark Robson likened young Mohamadou Kante to Patrick Vieira a few days ago. The manner in which compatriot Cisse finished off a pair of beautifully-taken goals during France’s 3-2 victory over Poland at this summer’s Under-21 European Championships was also reminiscent of the Arsenal legend in his Highbury pomp.
Andy Diouf is also under consideration, even if the 22-year-old has not really developed as expected since joining Lens from Swiss outfit Basel in 2023.
The final name on The Guardian’s list, meanwhile, is the only one with a prior spell in English football on his CV. Serbia stalwart Ivan Ilic spent three years at Manchester City before making his name in Italy with Hellas Verona and Torino.
And, despite having not made a single senior appearance under Pep Guardiola, Tuttosport did say that Ilic ‘bewitched’ the Man City boss during a loan spell at NAC Breda. Like a certain Aleix Garcia, Ilic’s pathway was blocked largely due to the quality of those ahead of him in the pecking order.
Speaking of Garcia, Hammers News have been informed that Bayer Leverkusen’s silky Spaniard has admirers at West Ham too.
Mateus Fernandes may be the first-choice, then, but West Ham cannot be accused of failing to cast their net a little wider in pursuit of alternatives.
