Mateus Fernandes: Shining the Spotlight on Southampton's Portuguese Midfielder

Sporting Clube de Portugal have produced the Matheus Nunes regen, when Matheus has hardly started ‘Matheusing’. Remove the H and you get Mateus, and he is Him – arguably the more rounded midfield talent. An all-action number 8 with elite physical attributes and technical resources.

An overall fee of €20 million may become business that Sporting come to regret – the uncomfortable compromise of parting ways with one of the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo’s brightest prospects to retain key figures such as Pedro Gonçalves, Gonçalo Inácio, Morten Hjulmand and of course, Viktor Gyökeres. A real coup for Southampton, which paid off immediately on his full debut.

After coming off the bench in their 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, Fernandes started in midfield and grabbed a goal and an assist to lead Saints past Cardiff City in the EFL Cup, before replacing Will Smallbone at halftime in their following match vs. Brentford. Far from known for his finishing, but an extremely competent and promising ball striker, Mateus Gonçalo Espanha Fernandes has what it takes to play a major role for Southampton this season in their return to the top-flight.

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