So far this summer, Leeds United don’t appear to be close to making any new signings. But Daniel Farke certainly has some irons in the fire.
Next season the Premier League will welcome Leeds United, Burnley, and Sunderland: of the three, only Leeds are yet to make a signing so far this summer, with Burnley and Sunderland signing a number of loan players on permanent deals following promotion.
The summer transfer window opens on June 1st and so in the coming weeks and months, we’ll surely see a horde of new faces arriving at Elland Road ahead of what could be a long and prosperous future in the Premier League for Daniel Farke’s side.
And there’s some equally exciting names being added to Daniel Farke’s summer shortlist, including Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes. The 20-year-old Portuguese midfielder was a shining light for Southampton in their disastrous 2024/25 campaign, scoring twice and assisting four more in 36 Premier League games.
This summer, he looks set to be on the move. Leeds United and Crystal Palace are both interested in signing Fernandes from the Saints.
Photo by Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty ImagesSouthampton’s Tyler Dibling turnaround gives Leeds United hope of signing Mateus Fernandes
It was initially claimed that Leeds thought they could seal a deal for Fernandes at a price of £30million. Subsequent reports revealed how Southampton officials joked about Leeds United’s Fernandes valuation behind the scenes and that the club would demand a whole lot more than £30million to sell Fernandes this summer.
But that might not be the case. Southampton have another in demand gem in Tyler Dibling and earlier in the year, it was claimed that Southampton wanted £100million for Dibling. The news was ludicrous and the Saints have since changed their tune.
Sky Sports News (live, May 28th) reported that Southampton now value Dibling at £55million, almost halving their previous valuation and going a huge insight into two things: how much they’re really about to charge for their players this summer, and how little clarity they actually have about their players’ valuations.
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Fernandes isn’t the only Southampton player who’s wanted by Leeds this summer. In fact, Leeds United want to sign Kyle Walker-Peters (out of contract this summer), Aaron Ramsdale, and now Fernandes as well.
But the Saints have just hired a new manager in Will Still. The Belgian-English coach arrives from RC Lens and he’ll no doubt want to take stock before any major decisions on player sales are made.
Though given Southampton’s predicament, player sales seem inevitable this summer, and Fernandes looks like one who the Saints will really struggle to keep hold of given the level of interest, and how much money they could make from him.
The latest news on Dibling gives Leeds United hope that the true price tag for Fernandes won’t be extortionate, but it doesn’t rule out the fact that it could yet go well beyond this initial £30million mark.