West Ham United could try to persuade Matheus Nunes after bid rejected
West Ham could make another attempt to sign Matheus Nunes, as per ExWHUemployee.
Writing on his Patreon on 12 August, the reliable Hammers source suggested that the “club are expected to follow up” their talks with Nunes and get a deal agreed.
Portugues newspaper Record reported on 12 August that the Hammers have tabled a formal bid worth a total of £29.5million, but the Guardian reports that the offer was in the region of £25m.
However, David Moyes made it clear (via Roshane Thomas) that the player doesn’t want to join them, Ex has shared another update, where he wrote it remains to be seen if he can be persuaded at some point.
Ex wrote on his Patreon: “We can confirm that Matheus Nunez is someone that the club are very aware on. When West Ham had their little dip into the Portuguese market signing youngsters Xande Silva (Now at Dijon) Mesaque Djú (who we believe will leave the club on a free) and Gonçalo Cardoso (who again we are tying to sell) Nunez stood out.
“It was thought then that he would be too hard to persuade to leave Sporting. Rob Newman has also looked at the player during his Man City days. In fact Manchester City are one of the clubs reported to be interested in the player including Liverpool and Wolves. We like the Portuguese market and had shown interest in both Diaz and Darwin Nunez that are now both at Liverpool arguably unrealistically in the past.
“We believe that Matheus Nunez is one of the players we have had talks about in the attacking midfielder options but as it stands neither are close to signing. We apparently have many offers/inquires in for players at the moment and suspect to sign a number of players before the window closes.
“Update: The club are expected to follow up their talks with Nunez and try to get a deal accepted.
“Update: Moyes has confirmed that both deals are not close as we reported earlier. Nunez has turned us down initially apparently and we will see whether he can be persuaded at another point. Despite initial discussions with Depay as we reported this has never been close.”
Top quality
Moyes has reiterated in his press conference (via West Ham football) that the Hammers are only interested in signing quality players.
Nunes is a quality player, and that is why Sporting are not prepared to listen to offers below £42m.
Money probably is not a key factor here. The Hammers probably will try their best to match that amount, but they cannot do anything if the player doesn’t want to move.
The lure of playing in the Champions League is something a bigger motivation for players than money, and if that’s the case, the Hammers should stop wasting time on him.
There are loads of quality players in the world, and the club must aim to secure the right profile for the club.
Bolstering the midfield is a priority for the Hammers this summer. They are heavily reliant on Declan Rice, but the club need more quality in that department if they want to climb up the ladder.