Southampton reject West Ham transfer offer for Mateus Fernandes
The bid worth up to £30million including add-ons fell considerably short of the Championship club's valuation and was turned down without a counter proposal.
Fernandes — under contract at St Mary's until 2029 — is valued by Southampton similarly to fellow midfielder Romeo Lavia, who left for Chelsea in the summer of 2023 in a £58m deal.
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Talks will only resume if West Ham or any other suitor shows a willingness to get closer to that level.
Southampton would be willing to sell at what they deem to be the right price but regard him as their best performer after accumulating among the most Premier League minutes for a player under the age of 21 last season.
The Portugal Under-21 international joined the south-coast club from Sporting CP in August of last year.
He went on to make 44 appearances in all competitions last term, including 36 in the Premier League.
Fernandes featured as a second-half substitute in Saturday's Championship opener, playing the final 30 minutes of the 2-1 win over Wrexham.
West Ham have signed defender El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen from Leicester City.
Free agents Kyle Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson have also arrived while defender Jean Clair-Todibo had his move from Nice made permanent.
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