Mateus Fernandes has made a bold declaration about his and Tottenham’s ambitions in his first interview as a Spurs player.
Spurs have just spent £185m on a midfield rebuild, with £85m of that being paid to West Ham for Fernandes, who has become the second player to make the move from the East London club to N17 over the last year.
The midfielder rejected Man United in favour of a move to Tottenham, having been won over by Roberto De Zerbi’s vision.
De Zerbi has said that Fernandes will be crucial to how he wants Spurs to play, and the 21-year-old has opened up on what he wants to achieve under the Italian in North London.
New Tottenham signing Mateus Fernandes wants to compete for the Premier League title
In his first interview with the club’s official channel, the midfielder admitted he is excited to be joining such a massive club and has set his sights on competing for the Premier League title.
When asked about the move, Fernandes told Tottenham’s official website: “I’m very happy, I’m very excited for this next step. Of course, it’s a massive club. I already know the city, the country. I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. We will fight for the Premier League. We will fight for the first place.”
The former West Ham man believes that he is ready to take on the massive challenge at Tottenham, having been accustomed to the demands of Premier League football over the last two years.
Fernandes continued: “Now, I’m more ready to be on this level, because when I joined Southampton, my English was very bad. I just spoke Portuguese and Spanish, and no one spoke Portuguese and Spanish there. It was just English. So, this helped me a lot. I was living alone. Now I have my girlfriend, I have my family here. I’m stronger now, so I’m ready for the next steps. That’s it, everything is about trying to improve.
“Now I’m going to the club with a different pressure, with maybe a different mentality. What I believe, what I can do – I believe in me. I know that I can improve the team and improve the club. I’m here to help the team, to help the manager and improve with him as well. I’m ready for this next step. I’m ready for this pressure. It’s one thing that I work for. I’m very excited to play for a big club, for a manager that wants to win titles.”
Fernandes admits he spoke to Pedro Porro ahead of Spurs move
The midfielder will have a familiar face in the Tottenham squad, having played alongside Pedro Porro at Sporting Lisbon.
Fernandes admitted that the Spaniard spoke in glowing terms of the club, the manager and the squad.
The Spurs newcomer added: “I spoke with Pedro Porro. I played with him at Sporting, and he spoke about everything. He spoke about the manager, the mentality change in the group, the training ground, the stadium. Of course, London, it’s a city that I know now, but he spoke about the city as well.
“He told me many, many good things about the club, so I’m ready. I told him, ‘I’m ready to fight for titles, ‘ and this is our way. Now, I try to do my best.”