Tottenham Hotspur needed midfield help in January, and thought they had landed themselves a real prospect in Gedson Fernandes.
The Portuguese talent had earned a burgeoning reputation at Benfica, and Jose Mourinho struck an 18-month deal to bring him to Spurs on loan.
Sky Sports reported at the time that Spurs had the option to sign Fernandes for £42.7million, winning the race despite West Ham also having agreed a deal.
Right now, West Ham won’t feel like they missed out on much by seeing Fernandes head to Tottenham instead of making the move to the London Stadium.
Fernandes hasn’t made a single Premier League appearance this season, and his only game came against Chelsea in the EFL Cup.
The 21-year-old isn’t even in Tottenham’s Europa League squad, and is well down the pecking order for Mourinho – meaning he could be on the move again.
Mourinho has been quoted by Goal as saying that he will be happy for the midfielder to leave in January if he isn’t happy, and will co-operate with Benfica all the way.
Fernandes’ time at Spurs may be drawing towards a premature end, with no big-money permanent move in the offing, and West Ham have to feel pretty relieved.
When they missed out on Fernandes, West Ham went out and signed Tomas Soucek instead, taking him on loan with a view to a permanent deal.
The 25-year-old has starred at West Ham, providing a goal threat with his 6ft 4in frame whilst forming a superb midfield partnership with Declan Rice.
Soucek was also much, much cheaper than Fernandes, and making an instant impact rather than still wondering whether he’s good enough almost a year on.
It was a blow to miss out at the time, but with Soucek starring and Fernandes out of favour at Tottenham, West Ham likely feel like they’ve come out winners here.
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