Social media has been rife with fears that Tottenham Hotspur’s big money summer signing from West Ham has suffered a serious injury
00:32, 29 Jul 2026Updated 00:44, 29 Jul 2026
Tottenham midfielder Mateus Fernandes is not believed to be injured despite fears on social media(Image: Courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur)
Fears that Tottenham’s £85million summer signing Mateus Fernandes has suffered an injury on the club’s pre-season tour are unfounded, football.london understands.
The 22-year-old was signed from West Ham last month as part of Spurs‘ £237million transfer splurge so far this summer and impressed in their opening two friendlies against MK Dons and Auckland, including scoring a wonderful volley from outside the penalty area in the first game.
With recent training footage showing Fernandes watching training rather than taking part, Spurs fans on social media have gone into overdrive with fears and speculation that the Portuguese is injured, with some theories that he has become the latest to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury at the club.
However, football.london understands that while at this point Fernandes is unlikely to start Tottenham’s latest pre-season friendly in Australia against Sydney FC on Wednesday, the midfielder is not injured. Instead it is because head coach Roberto De Zerbi has been pushing the players hard in training, especially those who returned earlier to pre-season, and various players’ time in sessions and matches is being monitored and managed based on a variety of factors such as fatigue, little niggles, illness or even jet lag.
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Various players have so far been rested from matches and training sessions with that in mind over the opening weeks of the pre-season.
De Zerbi’s style of football is an all-action, draining one and the players’ fitness is being pushed this summer to deal with that ahead of the season, with the arrival of the Italian’s long-time strength and conditioning coach Agostino Tibaudi to join another former colleague in first team fitness coach Marcattilio Marcattilii to ensure the team is ready for what is to come.
Various senior players are expected to get more minutes against Sydney than they did against Auckland on Sunday, with De Zerbi to decide when on the right time to introduce the returning World Cup players – Micky van de Ven, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson Kevin Danso and Lucas Bergvall – with them all stepping up their efforts in training in recent days.