During the summer transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur successfully outmaneuvered Manchester United to secure the services of Mateus Fernandes. The north London club spent £85 million to acquire the 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder from West Ham United.
Despite the hefty price tag, the youthful talent has featured in the starting lineup for only three out of Tottenham’s opening five Premier League fixtures. Furthermore, during one of these appearances, he was substituted at half-time.
Following a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa, Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi expressed his view on the midfielder’s display: “While I maintain great faith in Mateus, I was unsatisfied with how he played today. This is not a personal criticism, as I hold him in high regard. I simply expect greater contributions from him, regardless of where he is deployed.”
At Present, Tottenham are Squandering Their £85m Asset in Mateus Fernandes
Such public criticism of Fernandes felt unwarranted, particularly since he was played out of his natural position during the disappointing home defeat to Villa. In truth, almost none of his teammates delivered a noteworthy performance in that match either.
Nonetheless, De Zerbi chose to point fingers at the young midfielder after fielding him as a playmaker once more. Ultimately, this tactical decision reflects more poorly on the Italian tactician himself.
To be fair, De Zerbi is dealing with limited options. He remains committed to his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation but lacks a fully fit creative playmaker. James Maddison is just returning to competitive match fitness after spending a year recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. Meanwhile, Xavi Simons remains sidelined with an identical knee injury. Although Dejan Kulusevski is nearing a return to the squad after being out since May 2025, his last Premier League start is still more recent than Maddison’s.
Instead of adapting his tactical approach or searching the youth academy for a rising star—such as the highly-rated Luca Williams-Barnett—the manager continues to play a natural box-to-box midfielder out of position. Conor Gallagher is another squad member who has been tried in the advanced playmaker spot, though neither player is naturally suited to the role.
In reality, Fernandes built his reputation at both Southampton and West Ham by operating from deep in the midfield. From this deeper area, he was highly effective at driving his team into transition. Since Tottenham sorely needed a central midfielder capable of progressing the ball from deep positions, Fernandes appeared to be an ideal acquisition.
During the previous Premier League campaign, only Jarrod Bowen (45) surpassed Fernandes (37) in terms of key chances created for West Ham. Furthermore, his 28 completed dribbles placed him third squad-wide, trailing only natural wingers Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, who naturally register higher dribbling statistics. Defensively, his tally of 103 tackles was the sixth-highest across the entire league.
As a midfielder, Fernandes excels in highly combative matches where he can break up play and distribute the ball effectively. Thus far, De Zerbi has not allowed him to demonstrate these qualities. Instead, the former Brighton and Marseille coach has stuck with a midfield partnership of Sandro Tonali and Rodrigo Bentancur. Tonali represents a monumental £100m summer investment, while Bentancur provides veteran experience and defensive stability in front of the back four.
Consequently, a noticeable gap emerges between the defensive and attacking lines of midfield. On paper, Tottenham’s defensive duo shields the defense, allowing the full-backs to push high and wide while the wingers drift inward. However, this setup lacks any central penetrative power—a recurring issue that plagued Tottenham last season, where they possessed plenty of energetic runners but lacked a cohesive link between defense and attack.
Consequently, while Tottenham have the capability to dictate possession and dominate the center of the pitch—boasting the third-highest average possession in the league at 60.7%—they struggle to generate actual opportunities, ranking a lowly 13th with just 9.6 chances created per match. It remains a case of style over substance.
It is evident that Tottenham must adjust their tactical framework ahead of their upcoming fixture. De Zerbi should consider resting either Tonali or Bentancur in his midfield pivot—perhaps dropping the former as he continues to adapt to his new club—thereby allowing Fernandes to drop back into his most effective role.
As soon as the manager accepts that Fernandes is poorly utilized as an advanced playmaker, fans will finally see the true capabilities of their expensive summer signing, giving Tottenham a much-needed boost to climb away from the bottom of the league standings.
