You know you’ve signed a pretty good player when his former manager is mourning the departure so publicly. And make no mistake. Southampton, to the tune of £15 million, have certainly got themselves a pretty good player.
How good remains to be seen.
Comparisons have been drawn between the ‘immense’ Mateus Fernandes and another who owed his rise to prominence to Sporting Lisbon. Matheus Nunes blossomed in Portugal, spent a season at Wolves, and then put pen to paper with Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning Manchester City for a fee of £53 million.
Fernandes, Southampton’s new number 18, possesses many of the attributes that once had Guardiola putting Nunes among the finest footballers on the planet.
A comment he admittedly retracted following a sluggish start to life at the Etihad.
Now, Sporting boss Ruben Amorim is used to losing key players. Pedro Porro, Joao Palhinha, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes and the Manchester United-bound Manuel Ugarte have all departed the Estadio Jose Alvalade in recent years.
But Amorim made no attempt to hide his disappointment after seeing Matues Fernandes go just 10 games into his Sporting career.
Southampton sign Mateus Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon
“We can’t guarantee anything, and I’ve already learned that. We can’t guarantee anything until the market is closed,” Amorim tells A Bola, having hoped to work with Fernandes following an excellent loan spell at Estoril last term.
“What we lost is a player. A young man with a lot of value who, in my opinion, has the characteristics to be a great player.
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“But choices were made. And then, obviously, we do everything together.”
Southampton may take issue with Amorim’s claim that Fernandes might have preferred to stick around – the man himself said he was ‘very happy‘ after putting pen to paper with The Saints a fortnight ago – but the manager’s disappointment is very real indeed.
“We really wanted to keep Mateus. And, honestly, I think Mateus would have liked to stay, despite it being a big contract and a big league. It was a difficult time for everyone,” Amorim adds.
“But I say again, we have to make choices. And in the end, as a coach, I make them too.”
Russell Martin excited by Saints additions
The Portugal Under 21 international made his Southampton debut in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, coming off the bench for the final 14 minutes.
20-year-old Fernandes is one a number of midfielders to arrive, alongside Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu and Flynn Downes, snapped up on a permanent basis after a temporary stint on the South Coast.
“Lesley in the number six position will compete with Flynn, and he’s adapting really nicely. Mateus is a really, really talented footballer and can be quite flexible in terms of position. We’ll see how long it takes for them to adapt,” coach Russell Martin tells the Southampton website while also raising expectations surrounding new striker Cameron Archer.
“Archer gives us flexibility. He’s a proper goalscorer, quick, really intelligent with his movement. It’s just about how he adapts to what we want. He’s scored a lot of goals in training this week, looks sharp.”
Southampton are still in the market for a goalkeeper.
According to The Guardian, the newly-promoted side are targeting a loan deal for Arsenal benchwarmer Aaron Ramsdale after a potential £10 million deal for Feyenoord glovesman Justin Bijlow collapsed due to an issue discovered during his medical.
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