Tottenham have reportedly entered the race to land Benfica midfielder Gedson Fernandes amid interest from West Ham.
According to The Daily Mail, Tottenham are trying to hijack West Ham’s deal for Fernandes and are currently in talks with Benfica over a potential move.
The report claims that West Ham have already agreed an 18-month loan for Fernandes, but Spurs could thwart their efforts and bring him to North London instead.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
Fernandes has struggled for game time at Benfica in the league this season, with only two starts to his name. This would suggest that he is not performing at a high enough level to start in the Portuguese league – which is backed up by his WhoScored rating of 6.38 for Benfica this season. In his two Champions League appearances, he has managed an even lower rating of 5.99, so his performance levels do not appear to show that he is ready for a Premier League move.
Whilst you could argue that the club would aim to develop him as it is an 18-month loan move, the statistics suggest that he would not be an improvement to West Ham’s current team. This means that losing out on him to Tottenham, who are not a direct rival to West Ham in the Premier League table, may not be a big blow for the Hammers. If West Ham want to improve their current squad, they could – instead – look at players who currently playing at a good level and showing that they are ready to produce in the Premier League this month and beyond.
