During Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27-year reign at Manchester United, the club rarely ever missed out on their top transfer targets, but times have changed as Tottenham stole a march on the Red Devils this summer.

Following West Ham United’s relegation from the Premier League, Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes became one of the hottest properties in the transfer market. Just 22 years old, Fernandes was one of the only bright sparks at the London Stadium in the 2025-26 season.

But where would he end up? Would the midfielder join last season’s 17th-place side or the 20-time champions of England? Well, to many people’s surprise, Fernandes opted for the former.

Why Mateus Fernandes Snubbed Man Utd For Spurs

Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge

After missing out on a place in Roberto Martinez’s Portugal squad for the 2026 World Cup, the 22-year-old had time to pick his next destination. He decided to stay in the capital, moving to north London.

Now, Fernandes has told The Athletic why he chose to join Tottenham, despite Man Utd’s interest. One of the key factors came in the shape of a phone call from a World Cup winner.

Pedro Porro played a key role in Spain’s triumph over the summer, and also helped out his club in the process. The full-back was at Sporting CP with Fernandes, and got in touch to convince him to become his teammate again.

Fernandes actually missed the call but was left a message by Porro, who claimed to have been the one pushing his signing. The midfielder explained:

He added that they did eventually have a conversation: “Then when everything was done, I spoke with him a bit about the club, the mentality in the team, the teammates as well. He’s an important player. He’s one of the best right-backs in the world. He’s a top guy.”

Roberto De Zerbi Also Played Key Role

Roberto De Zerbi has been trusted with a lot of money to spend after steering the club to safety in the final weeks of last season. The Italian has snapped up Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi alongside Fernandes.

The Portugal international explained the lengths De Zerbi went to when discussing a summer transfer with him “The desire of playing for a big club, winning games, to fight for the Premier League, for the title,” he said when asked why he chose Spurs.

Roman Reigns has revealed what he said to Seth Rollins just moments before the final Spear in their main event match at WWE SummerSlam.

Reigns retained the World Heavyweight Championship in dramatic fashion against former fellow faction member and long-time adversary, Seth Rollins. The Match of the Year candidate included call backs to their time in The Shield together and even borrowed moves from each other and the group’s third member, Dean Ambrose.

The match was contested in the crowd for a period until it ended up with the two Powerbombing each other through the announcers table. Both returned to the ring just before the referee could reach the 10-count and the match continued.

The referee was then Speared by Reigns. With no referee in sight, Rollins prepared to hit The Tribal Chief with a steel chair, a throwback to the 2014 incident when the group were broken apart. Rollins would be countered by Reigns, however, who would refuse to use the chair himself.

Then, The Architect would try to Curb Stomp his opponent from the top rope, but missed, and Reigns would proceed to spear Rollins three times to get the cover and retain the World Heavyweight Championship to continue his nearly four-month reign.

After the match, Reigns and Rollins would show respect by doing The Shield fist bump to close the book on the 12-year rivalry.

Screenshot via Netflix

Following the bout, WWE reporter Jackie Redmond asked Reigns what he said to Rollins moments before the final Spear, and he revealed: “’It’s always been me and you.’

“Since FCW. Since The Red Rooster was b******* at us. It’s always been me and Seth. It’s always been the two of us. Even in The Shield, we knew what it was. We knew Ambrose was a wild hair, but we knew we were the guys that were going to change this place. We’re the pioneers of this place.

Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose were a part of The Shield for two years and were booked as the top faction in WWE. Following Rollins’ betrayal of the group in 2014, all three members went on to become World Champions.

Ambrose would go on to leave the company, however, while the other two have been on-and-off rivals since, and many viewers believe that this encounter marks the end of the storyline for both following the showing of respect between the two. There was no interference from Reigns’ faction The Bloodline, and it ended in a clean result.

Reigns is scheduled to appear on Monday Night Raw this evening in Des Moines, Iowa.

A UEFA nation has become the first country to officially withdraw their support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino following his controversial World Cup plans.

Infantino’s plans to sell off stakes in the governing body’s competitions to private investors sparked widespread outrage.

UEFA threatened to boycott the plans if they went ahead, while CONCACAF and the AFC also made their opposition clear.

With opposition mounting and very little backing, Infantino and FIFA made the decision to shelve their plans. However, despite his decision to not go ahead with the plans, the 56-year-old has now lost the support of many.

Nation Issue Statement Withdrawing Support For Gianni Infantino

REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

It was revealed during the World Cup that ‘more than 200 FIFA nations’ sent letters of support for Infantino for re-election as the body’s president.

According to the Guardian, only a handful of FIFA’s 211 member associations did not declare their support for the 56-year-old. Former Premier League footballer Jan Aage Fjørtoft has claimed that Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany are among the nations that did not sign the letter.

Wales did send a letter of support. However, following his failed World Cup plans, they have now made a U-turn.

The Football Association of Wales told Sky News it: “Hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as FIFA President for the 2027-2031 term.

The Wales FA are believed to have written to FIFA about its position on its chief.

Their withdrawal of support comes a day after they posted a statement backing UEFA’s calls for a review of the Leadership and Governance of FIFA.

“FIFA and its members are custodians of the game, responsible for its long-term growth, development and sustainability. This requires leadership that puts our game first in all of our decisions,” they wrote.

Andy Burnham Calls on Gianni Infantino to Resign

Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, has called on Infantino to resign. He told GiveMeSport: “Just because of the direction FIFA has gone under his leadership and the plan to sell off the World Cup to investors really just cements the feeling that he’s not leading the organisation in the right direction and therefore not taking the game on the right path.

“So it’s a feeling I’ve had for a while and it’s clearly not a sustainable situation. When UEFA and CONCACAF can’t have confidence, that is a large chunk of world football saying that this is not acceptable.

He added: “My perspective is that football needs to be protected from being completely overtaken by commercial interests.

“At the end of the day it is about the joy of the sport, using the power of football to redistribute as much as possible back to the grassroots of the sport. It feels as though people have forgotten that at the top of the game and they see it as yet another vehicle to make money. If football becomes that, and is only that, then it kills the thing that we’ve all grown up loving.”