West Ham’s opening offer of £30m for Mateus Fernandes has been rejected by Southampton. Fernandes is their top target in midfield, but the clubs are a long way apart on his valuation and a compromise is not close.
Southampton, who signed Fernandes for £15m from Sporting last year, have quoted £50m for the 21-year-old. West Ham are understood to have offered an initial £28m plus £2m in add-ons. They believe Southampton, one of the favourites for promotion from the Championship, want too much for a player with one season of Premier League football behind him.
West Ham are prepared to explore alternative options.