Tottenham are ready to break their transfer record twice in one window, with massive moves for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. But what could they bring to Spurs?What started as tentative enquiries about a possible transfer for long-time Manchester United target Mateus Fernandes has now turned into a full-blown face-off for the midfielder’s signature, and the outcome now seems more up in the air than ever.As per reports, Spurs are seemingly more willing to meet West Ham’s £80 million valuation than United, and with Real also supposedly out of the race, it’ll be a straight shootout between the two clubs.Again, according to reports, Roberto De Zerbi is incredibly fond of the young Portuguese midfielder and, behind the scenes, insists on his importance to his ongoing Tottenham rebuild.So what makes Mateus Fernandes such an alluring prospect? And what is driving Tottenham’s pursuit as well as the £80 million valuation?Photo by Luis Loureiro/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty ImagesWhy Tottenham need Mateus FernandesMateus Fernandes is actually the second high-profile midfield target Spurs have been reliably linked with this summer.The negotiations for Newcastle superstar Sandro Tonali have been ongoing for a few weeks already, with De Zerbi also pushing hard for Spurs to meet Newcastle’s £100m asking price.As the pursuit of Sandro Tonali is supposedly a separate affair from the Mateus Fernandes interest, it looks like both midfielders are central to De Zerbi’s midfield plans next season.In our extensive article analysing Tottenham’s Sandro Tonali interest, we were surprised at Spurs’ willingness to almost double their transfer record on a position and profile they already have extensive cover for.Tonali, an exceptional player in his own right, profiles rather similarly to the plethora of other midfielders currently at their disposal, such as Archie Grey, Pape Sarr, Bentancur or Gallagher, or Lucas Bergvall, who recently requested a transfer away.To simplify things with a generalisation, those players can be largely thought of as box-to-box midfielders who excel at progressive carrying and attacking duels, but their games lack a serious aptitude for passing and progressive passing.Spurs’ lack of technicians and passers in their midfield was a big reason for their absolutely dreadful season last year.While Sandro Tonali would offer an immediate upgrade on all of Spurs’ other options in that position, he wouldn’t really solve the most pressing problem in their squad, their complete inability to progress the ball through the middle of the pitch (a problem which, to their credit, Spurs have already tried to alleviate by bringing in Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, as we’ve already laid out in this article).But Spur’s pursuit of Fernandes puts the potential signing of Sandro Tonali in a completely different and far more reasonable light.What kind of player is Mateus Fernandes? And what could he become at Spurs?First of all, Fernandes directly solves a crucial issue at Spurs, as he fills the profile gap we just mentioned.Even when playing in a truly dreadful West Ham team that rarely saw any meaningful possession, Fernandes still excelled in passing statistics and was one of the only players in the Hammers’ squad who could hold their head high after their dreadful season.West Ham’s manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, used Fernandes, a naturally flexible player, in various midfield roles, but the young Portuguese truly came into his own when playing as West Ham’s deepest midfielder, taking the ball off the West Ham backline.Mateus Fernandes’ passing is amongst the best in the league, making him the perfect profile to make Tottenham’s midfield functional again.Fernandes’ athletic profile and ability to receive a pass under pressure as well as turn comfortably make him incredibly well suited to serve as the deepest midfielder for Roberto De Zerbi while also directly solving Tottenham’s centre-of-the-pitch progression issues.More than that though, if paired with Sandro Tonali, Spurs would without a doubt have one of the strongest defensive-third progression units in the Premier League next season.Mateus Fernandes’ potential role within the Tottenham squadIndeed, with Tottenham’s other target, Sandro Tonali, we can start to infer Roberto De Zerbi’s vision for Tottenham’s midfield.Besides the necessary number 10, it would most likely involve Sandro Tonali in a more advanced big-space number 8 role. Tonali’s incredible work rate and athleticism are his standout attributes, as he’s incredibly proficient and deadly when receiving further up the pitch in space, while his out-of-possession work is amongst the best in the league – he’s absolutely fantastic when it comes to hounding players, applying pressure and shutting down counterattacks.Fernandes, then, is likely to be used as Tottenham’s deep-lying playmaker. His ability to control the game tempo, great timing and delivery when switching play with diagonal passes can balance out Sandro Tonali’s skillset and create an incredibly cohesive double pivot unit.It’s also interesting to consider Fernandes’ midfield role in the context of De Zerbi’s footballing evolution.As we broke down in this article, De Zerbi, especially at Marseille, started placing increasingly more responsibility for ball progression through the defensive third on his backline.De Zerbi would even make his keeper step into his centre-back line to redistribute opposition pressure and create more favourable spaces for his midfielders and fullbacks (or wingbacks) to receive the ball.Spurs’ recent additions in centre-back, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, are a result of an obvious prioritisation of technical and passing ability and would also suggest that De Zerbi seems intent on making his backline increasingly important for the way he wants to build up. This makes the ability of a Roberto De Zerbi receiver to receive and turn under pressure, something that, as we mentioned, Fernandes is comfortable doing and a quality that the Spurs squad was basically missing ever since Yves Bissouma’s first five games for Ange Postecoglou.With the potential signing of Fernandes, Spurs would be conducting a truly overdue piece of business, while his young age and still very high ceiling could be an incredible investment for the future.Given the staunch competition from Manchester United Spurs still have to face if they are to secure the midfielder’s signature, it would be foolish to think that Tottenham are sure to get their man.But regardless of how this transfer saga ends, Tottenham are finally targeting players and profiles that drastically improve their weakest profiles, which is a remarkable and somewhat assuring change in behaviour.READ MORE: What does success actually look like for Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi next season?The post Tottenham transfer analysis: Why is Roberto De Zerbi so desperate to sign Mateus Fernandes? appeared first on Spurs Web.