Florentino Pérez’s €150 Million Promise in Real Madrid's Presidential Race

Florentino Pérez’s €150 million promise has turned this Real Madrid presidential race into a transfer market spectacle. One line, delivered on Thursday night, was enough: if re‑elected, he will authorise a €150m bid for a single player. No name, just a number big enough to shake Europe.

Since then, the shortlist behind that headline figure has started to surface.

Vitinha, Joao Neves, Olise: the blockbuster tier

Inside Valdebebas, admiration for Paris Saint‑Germain’s Vitinha is no secret. The Portuguese midfielder has long been viewed as a natural fit for Madrid’s evolving engine room, and he is one of the primary candidates to become the most expensive signing in the club’s history.

Alongside him sits another Portuguese talent: Joao Neves. Also at PSG, he has emerged as the other midfield option who would justify that €150m outlay. Between Vitinha and Neves, Pérez sees two potential centrepieces for Madrid’s next cycle.

The third name on the list breaks the midfield mould. Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise has been identified as the alternative superstar – a different profile, a wide player rather than a central organiser, but rated highly enough to be grouped in the same financial bracket.

If any of those three arrive, Madrid land a galáctico. If they do not, a problem remains. The squad still needs another midfielder.

That is where Jose Mourinho comes in.

Mourinho’s alternative: Mateus Fernandes

The coach‑in‑waiting has wasted no time sketching out his own version of Madrid’s future. During talks over his return, Mourinho proposed a shortlist of four to six signings. Two of them were midfielders. One name fits both his taste and Madrid’s need: Mateus Fernandes of West Ham United.

At 21, Fernandes has just come through a brutal Premier League season with a relegated West Ham side, yet emerged as one of their standout performers. His form has not gone unnoticed. Liverpool and Arsenal are tracking him, and, according to reports, Real Madrid have already begun to move behind the scenes to explore a deal.

He would not arrive as a €150m banner headline. He would arrive as a Mourinho midfielder: hard‑working, technically secure, and still with room to grow.

From Sporting CP to the Bernabéu radar

Fernandes’ rise has been steady rather than explosive.

Formed at Sporting CP, he learned his trade in one of Portugal’s most productive academies before a loan spell at Estoril showcased him to a wider audience. That season was enough to tempt Southampton, who paid €15m to bring him to England.

Relegation with the Saints did not slow him down. His performances held up under pressure, and West Ham moved aggressively, spending €44m to secure him last summer on a contract running until 2030.

At the London Stadium this season, he has been a constant presence: 42 appearances, five goals, five assists. Numbers that, in a struggling team, speak to resilience as much as talent.

On the international stage, his trajectory has been similar. Fernandes was considered unfortunate to miss out on Portugal’s World Cup squad, but he finally earned his first cap under Roberto Martinez during the March/April international break. That debut felt overdue rather than premature.

Now his name sits on a Real Madrid list drawn up by Jose Mourinho.

If Pérez’s €150m promise lands Vitinha, Joao Neves or Michael Olise, Mateus Fernandes might be the complementary piece who gives Mourinho the balance he wants. If the blockbuster chase fails, he could become the main act in Madrid’s midfield rebuild.

Either way, a 21‑year‑old who fought through back‑to‑back relegation battles suddenly finds his future being discussed in the same breath as the Bernabéu.