Gary Neville has put the sharpest edge on the Mateus Fernandes story. Manchester United are being quoted £100 million for the West Ham midfielder, and that kind of figure changes how any pursuit gets judged. Liverpool have also made a call, but only to ask about the price and conditions, with no bid or official conversation following.
Neville’s verdict on the fee
Neville’s view was blunt. Speaking on football365.com, he said: "The more he plays like he did the other night the more expensive he'll get. But at the moment, we hear Manchester United are being quoted £100 million for the West Ham boy Fernandes, so they're going to have to be looking around this tournament and parts of Europe."
He added: "He looked outstanding the other night, it looked like he had absolutely everything."
That is a fair summary of the player and the market. Fernandes is being priced like a premium target, while the reports around his valuation are already all over the place. One report has West Ham at around £80 million, another puts the price at more than £85 million, and Neville repeated the £100 million figure on air.
United's own position still helps explain why they are in the conversation at all. They finished third in the Premier League with 71 points, while West Ham ended 18th on 39 points. Those numbers are not a guarantee of anything, but they do show why this is being framed as a club with more leverage trying to buy from one with less room to bargain.
Liverpool’s enquiry and the wider market
Liverpool's involvement is still light-touch. Fabrizio Romano said Liverpool "made a call two weeks ago to understand the situation Mateus Fernandes at West Ham, to understand the price and conditions, but they didn't return with any bid or any official conversation."
That keeps the story open without making it bigger than it is. Liverpool are in the race, but only at the enquiry stage. Tottenham are also still in the mix, and they finished 17th in the Premier League with 41 points, which tells you this is not a bidding war being driven by one dominant club.
The wider point is simple enough. Fernandes has become a player several clubs are circling, but the fee is doing a lot of the talking. West Ham paid around £38 million for him from Southampton last summer, so the price chatter already reflects a major mark-up after one season. United may still like the player, but Neville's line suggests the club will need to decide whether they want to stay in a deal that is moving into a different bracket.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →