José Mourinho's Bold Plan for Real Madrid: Mateus Fernandes

José Mourinho has never been shy about drawing up grand plans before the ink is dry on a contract. According to AS, his latest blueprint for a new era at Real Madrid has a surprise name written in bold: West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes.

Not Kylian Mbappé. Not a galáctico winger. A 21-year-old midfielder fresh from relegation.

Mourinho’s new midfield pillar?

Mourinho is already sketching out his vision should Florentino Pérez win the presidential election and bring him back to the Bernabéu. Among the list of reinforcements he has submitted, Fernandes is emerging as one of the most intriguing — and, in Mourinho’s eyes, one of the most important.

West Ham’s season collapsed around him, but Fernandes rose. In a campaign that ended in the drop, the young Portuguese became one of the few reasons for optimism at the London Stadium. Thirty-six Premier League appearances, three goals, four assists, and something harder to measure: presence.

He covered ground, snapped into duels, and still had the composure to influence the game in the final third. Week after week, while West Ham lurched towards the trapdoor, Fernandes quietly built a reputation that spread well beyond England.

It has reached Madrid. And it has reached Mourinho.

AS reports that the coach is particularly taken by Fernandes’ profile and believes the midfielder has the blend of energy, discipline and technical quality needed to survive – and thrive – in the Bernabéu’s unforgiving midfield battle. For a manager who has always valued balance and character in the middle of the pitch, the attraction is obvious.

Relegated, but in demand

Relegation usually brings uncertainty and fire sales. In Fernandes’ case, it has brought opportunity.

West Ham’s drop into the second tier has inevitably alerted Europe’s elite. The report notes that improved relations between Real Madrid and super-agent Jorge Mendes could help ease any negotiations, a detail that matters when a complex deal looms.

But the path is crowded. Liverpool and Arsenal are also tracking the midfielder closely, ready to move if the numbers make sense. Any club hoping to prise Fernandes away is expected to start the conversation around the £80 million mark. That is not a casual enquiry; it is a statement of intent.

For Madrid, it would be a major investment in a player still at the beginning of his career. For Mourinho, it is one he is prepared to endorse. He sees Fernandes as a midfielder who can inject intensity, restore equilibrium and add personality to a department that, at times last season, lacked all three.

The price is high. The competition is real. But if Mourinho does walk back through the doors of the Bernabéu, Mateus Fernandes may quickly find himself at the centre of one of the summer’s most telling transfer battles.