Mateus Fernandes has revealed the key reason he snubbed Manchester United to join Tottenham from West Ham.
Spurs signed the Portuguese midfielder from London rivals West Ham last month for a club-record fee of £85m.
Fernandes was relegated from the Premier League with Southampton before suffering the same fate last season with West Ham.
Despite that, the 22-year-old attracted interest from a number of clubs earlier in the summer, with Michael Carrick reportedly keen to bring him to Old Trafford.
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But Fernandes chose to join Tottenham and says conversations with Roberto De Zerbi and Pedro Porro proved crucial to his decision.
Asked why he decided to sign for Spurs, Fernandes told The Athletic: ‘The desire of playing for a big club, winning games, to fight for the Premier League, for the title,
‘The way he [De Zerbi] spoke with me and my family was very important for me. He was calling me every day, so I’m very happy to work with him, and hopefully we can do great things.
‘It was more about (forming a) connection, because my dad and my mum don’t speak English very well. It was more about feelings.
‘He said he would take care of me, that he would be my second dad in England. I’m very happy to work with him.’
Fernandes was also in touch with Tottenham defender Porro, who he played with while the pair were both at Sporting Lisbon.
Recalling an exchange with Spain World Cup winner Porro, Fernandes said: ‘He called me one day — I didn’t answer because I was sleeping — he said, in Portuguese, “Come on Mateus, you need to play with us, we want you. It was me that told the manager to bring you.”
‘Then when everything was done, I spoke with him a bit about the club, the mentality in the team, the team-mates as well.
‘He’s an important player. He’s one of the best right-backs in the world. He’s a top guy.’
Fernandes scored on his Tottenham debut, a 1-0 pre-season friendly win over MK Dons, before featuring in their 2-0 victory over Auckland last week.
Spurs’ club-record signing was left out of the second tour friendly against Sydney before also missing Saturday’s 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea.
‘Mateus Fernandes can be available right now to play but we don’t want to take any risks with him,’ De Zerbi confirmed.
Tottenham have two more pre-season friendlies – against Getafe and Hoffenheim – before their Premier League opener against Brentford on August 22.
Spurs finished just 17th in the Premier League last season, only surviving relegation on the final day after De Zerbi’s positive impact at the expense of Fernandes’ former club West Ham.
Fernandes is just one of several new faces at Tottenham alongside the likes of Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andy Robertson.
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