According to sources in Portugal, Saints will be confirming the signing of a midfielder from Sporting CP of Lisbon on Tuesday with the player having arrived on the South Coast on Sunday for a medical.

sportwitness.co.uk are reporting that Portuguese media sources claim that midfielder Mateus Fernandes has already said his farewell's to his team mates at Sporting CP and travelled to England on Sunday.

He will have a medical today and the club are hoping to unveil him on Tuesday.

Fernandes who only turned 20 last month, spent last season on loan Estoril where after an appearance as a sub for Sporting, he started 25 games plus another 3 as sub for near neighbours Estoril.

He scored 1 goal and notched two assists during his loan spell where his value soared to around the £10 million mark.

He came to the attention of Southampton and other clubs and Saints are said to have paid around £12.8 million plus £4 million in potential add ons, Sporting would also receive 10% of any profit should he leave Saints.

Before joining Estoril for the season, he had broken into the Sporting squad at 18 and played around 10 matches for the first team, not just in the Portuguese League but also in European competition.

He is primarily a central midfielder who can also play in either an attacking role or defensively.

Not a signing that will initially excite Southampton supporters, but he could well come good.

Photo: Action Images

allsaint54 added 15:27 - Aug 19 How about spending that sort of money on a keeper.
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Bowlercow added 15:46 - Aug 19 Hopefully to give competition to Alcaraz and ot to replace him
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JoeEgg added 16:17 - Aug 19 Not a signing that will initially excite Southampton supporters, but he could well come good. Maybe he is also a part-time goalkeeper?
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Colburn added 16:40 - Aug 19 Sounds like one of those unproven gambles. Fingers crossed he is good enough. I’ll be surprised if Alcaraz stays, either he doesn’t want to or Martin doesn’t want him to. Shame as he looks our biggest attacking threat when he plays. Maybe he’s a nutter and not the right fit but we don’t have anything like him in our squad so hope he stays.
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dellboysaint added 17:33 - Aug 19 Agree with everything here. Keep Alcarez, McCarthy plays midfield and Fernandez goes in goal. At least he will be able to pass a ball which appears to be the main requisite of our keepers. Neither McCarthy or Bazuno are shot stoppers abd don't wi us points.
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Block8 added 18:17 - Aug 19 This appears to be another gamble on a promising player that we may be able to build up and sell on. Based on pre-season and Saturday we need a forward thinking midfielder, starting the game. We definitely improved with the introduction of Dibling and particularly Alcaraz. Unfortunately we are top heavy with promising foreign signings, that haven't lived up to promise and represent a massive loss. If he is coming to replace a current player lets hope it is Aribo who, although he works hard is so one footed it's embarrassing. Many won't agree but we have some promising youngsters of our own and really don't need any more midfielders unless we unload some, but who goes?

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livsgrandad added 19:24 - Aug 19 Aribo has a big southampton heart,and works hard for the team,not the most skillful but a workhorse....i love charlie A. Please keep him and give the lad a chance,he wants to be at saints...get us a c.f and g.k...urgently....i dont think armstrong is not strong enough for this league .stephens will let us down..cant believe rm hasnt made use of big paul up front...hes never been given a chance also love sulimana give him a chance when hes fit.....we've got 2 spare gks why aren't they getting a chance, if their not good enough, why are they still at saints????????

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AmericanSaint added 19:45 - Aug 19 FFS - We do not need another midfielder. This just tells me that we are selling Charlie to Italy. What are we doing?? Seriously, who is running the recruitment office? WE NEED A GOALKEEPER - not a midfielder. Again - FFS!!!!
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