West Ham will hate Spurs pre-season footage | OneFootball

West Ham fans will be hurt by Mateus Fernandes' wonder-strike in pre-season

West Ham will have their sights set on earning automatic promotion back to the Premier League next season.

The Hammers finished 18th in the top flight in 2025/26, coming two points behind 17th place Tottenham Hotspur in a tight relegation battle.

Nuno Espírito Santo has been tasked with guiding the London outfit out of the Championship, but they will face stiff competition in the fight for a top two place.

West Ham haven’t competed at this level of English football since 2012, when Sam Allardyce led the club to play-off success.

But the Portuguese coach has a history of winning this league himself, having led Wolves to the title in 2018.

The Irons will be hoping to use the transfer window to ensure they have a strong campaign ahead, but losing key players is always a potential consequence of dropping out of the Premier League.

West Ham will hate Mateus Fernandes footage

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The sale of Mateus Fernandes was inevitable once West Ham’s relegation was confirmed given how well he had performed despite the club’s inconsistent form last season.

The Hammers will take solace from the fact that they were able to pit Spurs and Manchester United against each other to drive up his value, which led to a remarkable £85 million deal.

The London outfit signed Fernandes just 12 months ago from Southampton in a deal worth £38 million and were able to more than double their money.

However, it will have stung to see the midfielder score an impressive goal for the Premier League side in their pre-season clash against MK Dons on Wednesday.

A Spurs corner was punched away by the League One side’s goalkeeper, but it fell perfectly for the Portuguese, who smashed an unbelievable volley into the top right corner.

This was a strong display of his technical quality, and the kind of talent Spurs can expect to enjoy following their big money deal with West Ham.

Roberto de Zerbi’s side lacked the kind of passing quality that Fernandes can bring to the team, making him a potentially perfect addition to the side.

In an under-performing West Ham side, the 22-year-old completed 40.65 passes per 90 at an accuracy of 87.5 per cent, while also managing 3.27 accurate long balls each game (all stats from Fotmob).

He should be suited to the Italian coach given his technical quality, and at 22 he still has the potential to become an even more impressive talent.

West Ham selling to Tottenham Hotspur will sting in particular

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It will particularly sting for West Ham fans that they have sold Fernandes to Spurs given both their rivalry and the fact they were battling each other for Premier League survival.

Had the Hammers been able to overturn the two point deficit, then there’s every chance that the 22-year-old would still be a part of Espírito Santo’s side for next season.

Instead, he could be scoring goals of this kind of quality in the Premier League to help one of the London outfit’s primary rivals.

While West Ham’s focus will now be on getting back to the top flight, Spurs look to be getting back to their previous position as one of the top teams in England.

And if Fernandes plays a pivotal role in helping de Zerbi’s side finish inside the top six or seven next season, then it will hurt for supporters to see even if the Irons earn promotion.

It makes it all the more important that West Ham hold onto other key players, with Jarrod Bowen confirming he’s staying being a big boost.

Because a consolation is needed when relegation has directly led to such an impressive player leaving the team.