Manchester United's £80m Midfield Target: Mateus Fernandes
Manchester United and Liverpool went shopping in the same league last summer. They walked out with very different bags.
A forensic ranking of all 189 Premier League signings from last season, compiled by The Athletic, has painted a brutal picture: United’s business looks sharp, efficient, even inspired. Liverpool’s? At times, wildly expensive. At worst, “catastrophic.”
United’s New Core Pass the Test
United made four major moves and every one of them landed in the top 40 of the list. That alone tells a story.
Matheus Cunha checked in at 40th, Bryan Mbeumo at 38th, Benjamin Sesko at 29th and Senne Lammens a stunning 9th. All four produced in their debut campaigns at Old Trafford, each adding something tangible to a squad that has lurched from rebuild to rebuild in recent years.
No vanity buys. No passengers. Just players who walked through the door and immediately justified the planning that brought them there.
And now, United are circling a midfielder who ranked even higher than three of those four: Mateus Fernandes, listed eighth overall and suddenly one of the most coveted players in England.
Fernandes Shines in a Sinking West Ham
Fernandes arrived at West Ham from Southampton for £40m and promptly became the heartbeat of a side that was otherwise falling apart. Relegation swallowed the Hammers, but it didn’t touch him.
When Lucas Paqueta left in January, West Ham needed someone to take the ball, take responsibility, and take risks. Fernandes did all of it.
Tackles. Duels. Recoveries. Long-range strikes. Line-breaking passes. He didn’t just fill a gap; he took on the role of chief playmaker and excelled while everything else around him crumbled.
That kind of season does not go unnoticed. The expectation inside and outside the club is blunt: West Ham are dropping to the Championship, Fernandes is not.
TEAMtalk reports that West Ham now value the Portugal international at around £80m, a figure that reflects his impact but is softened by the reality of relegation. Their bargaining power has taken a hit. Their need to cash in has not.
United, for their part, are giving serious consideration to a move. The lure is obvious. Fernandes idolises Bruno Fernandes, the current United captain, and sources indicate personal terms would be straightforward. The real question is whether United decide he is the midfielder to shape their next phase – and what West Ham’s final asking price actually looks like once the negotiations turn serious.
Liverpool’s Record Spree Misfires
While United’s signings quietly climbed the rankings, Liverpool’s big-money bets landed with a thud.
The club smashed their transfer record twice: £116m for Florian Wirtz, then £125m for Alexander Isak. Those are era-defining fees, the kind that are supposed to tilt a title race.
The returns were underwhelming. Wirtz only just scraped into the top 100 at 97th. Isak, hampered by an injury-ravaged season, slumped to 172nd out of 189.
Milos Kerkez emerged as Liverpool’s best piece of business at 49th, with Hugo Ekitike close behind at 50th. Giorgi Mamardashvili landed in 73rd, Freddie Woodman 89th. Jeremie Frimpong slid all the way down to 119th, while Giovanni Leoni’s luck deserted him immediately, an ACL tear on debut leaving him stuck at 143rd.
This was not the transformative window Liverpool envisaged when they tore up their transfer record twice.
Harvey Elliott’s Loan Labeled ‘Catastrophic’
The harshest verdict, though, came on a deal that wasn’t even a permanent transfer.
Harvey Elliott’s loan move from Liverpool to Aston Villa finished bottom of the entire list – 189th out of 189 – and was described as “catastrophic” for everyone involved.
Elliott managed just three starts. Unai Emery clearly didn’t see him as a central piece of the puzzle, and attempts to fix the situation failed. Talks in January to cut the loan short went nowhere. A February push to remove an obligation-to-buy clause – set to trigger after 10 appearances – also collapsed, even as Villa wrestled with an injury crisis. Elliott made his ninth appearance in March and then drifted to the margins.
For a 23-year-old attacking midfielder of clear talent, it was a waste of a season. For Villa, it was a squad slot that never truly contributed. For Liverpool, it was a development plan that backfired badly.
Xhaka Tops the Class, Sunderland Rise
At the top of the rankings, away from the chaos at the giants, stood Granit Xhaka. The former Arsenal midfielder powered Sunderland to a remarkable Europa League qualification in their first season back in the Premier League.
It was the kind of signing every club dreams of: experience, authority, and end product, all wrapped into one. While others burned money, Sunderland bought certainty.
United Eye the Next Midfield Centrepiece
So the table is set.
United, buoyed by a window in which every major signing delivered, are now weighing whether to push their chips in on Mateus Fernandes – a player rated the eighth-best signing in the division, a playmaker who thrived under pressure, and a self-confessed admirer of the man who wears the armband at Old Trafford.
West Ham want £80m. United must decide if that price buys them their next midfield leader or just another name in a long list of almosts.
Liverpool, bruised by a record-breaking spree that didn’t match the outlay and a loan deal branded “shambolic,” can only watch and wonder: will United’s bold move into the market underline the gulf in recruitment, or finally drag both clubs back into the same fight for English football’s summit?
