West Ham are poised to sign Mateus Fernandes from Southampton for a fee of about £38m. Talks progressed swiftly on Wednesday 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 poised 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 West Ham trying to sign a third midfielder. They 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 underwent a medical on Wednesday and is poised 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 No8 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.
Fernandes is expected to sign his contract on Thursday. West Ham are also looking to sign a fast striker.
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.
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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.
Monaco’s defener Mohammed Salisu is wanted by Crystal Palace. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Neal Simpson/Apl/Sportsphoto
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.
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