It would be fair to say that West Ham United have had a mixed summer transfer window so far.
While the Hammers have made a few smart additions to the team, like Kyle Walker-Peters and El Hadji Malick Diouf, they’ve also decided to take a gamble on the perennially unfit Callum Wilson.
Moreover, as we saw on Saturday, they haven’t added enough quality to Graham Potter’s squad, and that could ultimately end up costing them come May.
Fortunately, the club have now been linked with a new exciting midfielder, someone who could be an upgrade on another of their targets: Mateus Fernandes.
West Ham target Fernandes upgrade
Arguably the most significant transfer saga for West Ham at the moment concerns Southampton’s exciting Portuguese ace Fernandes.
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The Irons have been linked with him consistently over the last couple of weeks, and even though they saw a £30m offer rejected, they have reportedly gone back in with a new and improved bid.
The Saints ace looks like a real talent, but it now looks like the Eastenders are eyeing another midfield star, someone who could be an upgrade.
At least that is according to a recent report from Football Insider, which claims that West Ham are interested in Fabio Vieira.
The report has revealed that the Arsenal man’s agent has been speaking to clubs about a transfer this summer, and one of the sides he has been in talks with is the Hammers.
It’s not clear how much the former Porto man would cost, but considering he joined the North Londoners for £34m in 2023 and hasn’t been a success there, the fee would likely be a lot less than Fernandes, even though he could be an upgrade on his compatriot.
How Vieira compares to Fernandes
The first area to compare between Fernandes and Vieira is their output last season, and while it is not the be-all and end-all, it is an area in which the Arsenal man comes out on top.
In his 42 appearances on loan at Porto, totalling 2697 minutes, the “phenomenal” midfielder, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored five goals and provided six assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 3.81 games, or every 245.18 minutes.
In contrast, the Southampton star managed to rack up a tally of three goals and six assists in 44 appearances across all competitions last season, totalling 3409 minutes, which comes out to a far less impressive average of a goal involvement every 4.88 games, or every 378.77 minutes.
Now, it is worth pointing out that the Portuguese league is a significantly weaker competition, but the Santa Maria da Feira-born ace was also able to produce two goal involvements in just 398 minutes of Europa League action.
Moreover, there is far more pressure to make an impact at a club the size of Porto, whereas the remit for a recently promoted side like the Saints last year is to simply survive.
Finally, on top of being more of a goal threat, the 25-year-old also comes out way ahead when we take a look under the hood at their respective underlying numbers.
For example, he comes out on top in most key metrics, including, but not limited to, actual and expected non-penalty goals plus assists, shot and goal-creating actions, key passes, shots and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.34
0.22
Non-Penalty G+As
0.39
0.18
Progressive Passes
6.08
4.51
Progressive Passes Received
5.93
3.37
Progressive Carries
1.32
2.45
Shots
2.25
1.32
Shots on Target
0.73
0.43
Key Passes
2.01
1.07
Passes into the Final Third
2.01
0.86
Passes into the Penalty Area
4.07
3.04
Live Passes
42.8
37.1
Shot-Creating Actions
4.74
2.48
Goal-Creating Actions
0.59
0.21
In other words, the Gunners ace is a far more creative, incisive and dangerous midfielder, which sounds like just what the Irons need.
Ultimately, Fernandes would be a good signing in his own right, but Vieira looks to be the better player and would likely be available for less as Arsenal are looking to sell players.
Therefore, West Ham should do what they can to bring in the former Porto star before the window slams shut next month.
