Southampton may receive a Mateus Fernandes approach from Atletico Madrid which is pretty unreasonable due to the Spanish outfit over-packing that position throughout the summer.
Of all the Mateus Fernandes suitors, none's appeal looms as larger as Juventus in first division football. A substantial bid and they can get the Portuguese without any fuss, but the only thing stopping them is their more than decent midfield which doesn't need a creative figure urgently.
Then, there is West Ham with a noticeable chunk of their midfielders well beyond their best Premier League days. Hence, Southampton fans will want the club to ignore the Portuguese's ask until West Ham attracts a flurry of other midfielders.
Not simple to do, but waiting for others to give up on Mateus should work well. Still, a European team has come storming in for him without caring about their spending, or better new midfielders count.
In his own words, The Sun's Jack Rosser said: "Atletico Madrid one of the clubs considering Southampton's Mateus Fernandes".
Mateus risks becoming a forgotten midfielder at Atletico Madrid
Saying Mateus has Champions League outfits pausing to take notice is fine but Atletico's want isn't a significant need to start with. As per Transfermarkt, they have brought in two box-to-box midfielders alongside a backup attacking midfielder Alex Baena, and all of them are worthy of being starters.
Add former Chelsea star Conor Gallagher whom they secured last year and it's a packed midfield, where Mateus moving there would only complicate things further.
Imagine, leaving the Championship only to end up devoid of form and rhythm, with barely a dozen games to prove yourself. Worse, even that wasn't enough to impress a manager spoiled for choices in the name of midfield depth.
This could be Mateus and Southampton won't go out of their way to prevent it if the La Liga favourites settle a massive transfer fee with them. Let's see how Mateus views this situation.