Southampton manager Will Still has shown he is proper West Ham by playing a key role in the stealthy Mateus Fernandes transfer.
The world and its wife know Southampton boss Will Still is a massive West Ham fan.
Will Still has stated he dreams of managing his beloved Hammers one day in the future.
The 32-year-old was linked as a potential replacement for David Moyes in the not-too-distant past.
In fact it was claimed Still was on a six-man shortlist compiled by the West Ham board at one stage.
Whether Still gets the chance to manage the Hammers one day in the future remains to be seen.
And the job he does at Southampton may well dictate whether that is ever a realistic possibility.
Saints boss Will Still always a Hammer at heart
Still has been spotted taking in games at the London Stadium.
One visit even prompted speculation he had met with Hammers chief David Sullivan.
The West Ham majority owner denied meeting with Still at the time.
But Sullivan did not rule out hiring him as Hammers boss in the future.
For now, Still’s fellow Hammers fans are interested spectators in how he fares at Southampton.
West Ham may have just made his job a touch more difficult, though.
After a summer of incessant speculation, the Hammers have announced the signing of Saints star Mateus Fernandes.
The 21-year-old Portuguese has signed a five-year contract in a deal believed to be worth £41m.
At one stage it looked like the transfer may not happen.
But Saints boss Still has shown he is proper West Ham with a key role in the Fernandes deal.
Most outlets and sources, particularly those covering Southampton, were claiming there was no chance of West Ham signing Fernandes last week.
The Hammers had seen an opening bid of £30m rejected and Southampton’s bosses are said to have told them to add another £20m if they were to come back with another bid.
Still shows he is proper West Ham with key role in Fernandes deal
Over a week ago Hammers News exclusively revealed that West Ham and Saints had effectively agreed a £40m deal for Fernandes.
That proved accurate as West Ham unveiled Fernandes on Friday, just in time to be registered for Sunday’s clash at Forest.
The manner of the deal was refreshingly surprising from West Ham’s perspective.
Although Hammers News had revealed the deal was very much on last week, it took everyone by surprise when reports emerged Fernandes had secretly had a medical at West Ham.
Including Southampton’s board it seems.
The Daily Echo’s Saints reporter Alfie House revealed Fernandes travelled to West Ham without Southampton’s permission or knowledge.
He claims Southampton contacted the Hammers to clarify but the east Londoners denied it – despite the Saints board having allegedly seen photos of him at the West Ham training ground.
On Tuesday night Southampton played Norwich City away in the Carabao Cup, winning 3-0.
Fernandes was notable by his absence from the squad.
That reignited speculation he could be on the way to West Ham.
It has since emerged that Still has known all along Fernandes would be leaving for West Ham.
So what he did when pressed about Fernandes’ absence from the Southampton squad in midweek shows he is a true Hammer.
Most managers might try and be difficult or use the press to drum up a bidding war after being told their star player wants to leave.
But Still told the media Fernandes had been omitted purely because he played the full 90 minutes a few days earlier.
Still told white lie to help West Ham seal rare covert deal
It does not take a rocket scientist to realise that something else was afoot.
While Still was playing things down, Fernandes was finalising his move to West Ham.
The Saints boss could have alerted other clubs to the fact Fernandes was available and wanting to leave but the West Ham fan in him meant he handled the situation discreetly and with class.
Who knows whether West Ham would have been able to get that deal done had Still come out and revealed the real reason Fernandes was left out on Tuesday night.
He then went one better once the cat was out of the bag, saying: “West Ham have got an incredibly good player.”
Let’s have it right, if Still had announced to the world Fernandes was left out as he wanted away and was available for £40m and not the £50-60m being reported previously – a host of other clubs would have been all over him.
Still may never manage West Ham.
But either way he’ll always be highly regarded by his fellow Hammers with his conduct in the Fernandes deal, which could end up being the game-changing signing that changes West Ham’s season.
