Could Tottenham Hotspur be getting another injury-prone player as they step up their pursuit of West Ham star Mateus Ferandes?
Talks between Tottenham and West Ham over Fernandes are now advancing rapidly after the midfielder gave a green light on a move to Spurs.
Roberto De Zerbi’s men are thought to be increasingly confident of securing the Hammers star, although Man United have not given up their hopes of landing the player just yet.
Spurs have allegedly offered £65m up front, with around £20m in add-ons and bonuses for the 21-year-old. Apart from Fernandes’ quality and potential, there may be another reason the Lilywhites are ready to pay a premium for his services.
Tottenham target Mateus Fernandes has not suffered any major injuries in his career
The injury-proneness of the Tottenham squad has increasingly become a major concern, with the club suffering a number of major injury crises over the last two years.
Interestingly, as per Transfermarkt, Fernandes has never suffered any injury since he first broke through at Sporting Lisbon in 2023-24.
The 21-year-old has never been unavailable for a match due to a fitness issue over the last two years at Southampton and West Ham.
Fernandes’ robustness is perhaps one of the reasons De Zerbi’s men are willing to go the extra mile for the youngster, as the club to avoid another injury crisis next season.
But how many times has a player with a perfect injury record joined Tottenham only to pick up a freak long-term issue?
Recruitment may be to blame for Spurs’ injury crises
There has been a lot of debate over the past year on why Tottenham have suffered so many injuries, with some people blaming anything and everything from the training ground, medical department, the pitch at the stadium, to the style of play of previous managers.
While some of them could well be contributing factors, the reality could be that the Lilywhites just have an injury-prone squad and we lack enough robust players like Pedro Porro.
It would thus come as no surprise if the Tottenham recruitment department is giving a lot of weight to a player’s fitness record when finalising their transfer targets.