This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
Tottenham Hotspur reportedly attempted to and failed to sign Sporting Lisbon attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes during the summer transfer window, and his latest international appearance suggest he’s worth paying a club-record fee for.
The Daily Mail reported in August that the north London outfit saw three bids for the 25-year-old turned down, with Sporting holding out for their £65m valuation.
The Sun say that is still likely to be the fee needed to prise the player away from the Portuguese giants in January, with A Bola saying Spurs are ready to reignite their interest in Fernandes as the prospect of Christian Eriksen leaving increases.
If that £65m fee is right it would surpass the deal that saw Tanguy Ndombele arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer, in a move that could eventually be worth £62.8m.
His most recent showing for Portugal was just another sign that he could be worth it though, having already scored seven goals and provided a further five assists in just 10 outings for his club so far this term.
Perhaps surprisingly, the 25-year-old was only named among the substitutes for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Ukraine in Kiev on Monday, and he had to be called upon in the 56th minute with the visitors trailing 2-0 at that point.
The Euro 2016 winners may have ended the game on the losing side despite Cristiano Ronaldo netting his 700th career goal, but there was no doubt that Fernandes made an impact when he entered the field.
In 34 minutes on the pitch he made three key passes, as per stats-based website SofaScore, while he had one shot on target, too.
47 touches in that time suggests that a lot of Portugal’s build-up play went through him, with his 76% passing accuracy further proof that he is a player that takes risks on the ball as he looks to unlock the opposition defence.
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It won’t be easy for Tottenham to replace an influential player like Eriksen if he is to leave when his contract expires, but Fernandes continues to emphasise why he would be worth splashing out a huge fee for.