Ex-Tottenham scout delivers withering assessment of Mateus Fernandes

One of Tottenham's summer signings is raising concern following what happened against Manchester United.

That is according to experienced former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The Lilywhites brought in 10 new players in the summer window, with Roberto De Zerbi looking to lift Spurs out of the battle at the bottom of the table.

Back-to-back 17th-place finishes have been far from what is required by a Tottenham side.

So far, the Italian has failed to bring results, with pressure certainly starting to build.

And questions are already beginning to be asked of players only recently brought into N17.

Mateus Fernandes signing comes under fire after Man United cameo

Mateus Fernandes cost Tottenham plenty of money, with it being reported that a fee was agreed around £85million.

However, the Portuguese midfielder has not made his way into De Zerbi's starting XI at Tottenham.

His struggles were amplified by what happened against Man United, with Fernandes only coming on in the 89th minute.

Bringing concern over his arrival in the first place.

"I'd be concerned if I paid over £40m for a player and he's not got a regular place in the team. Obviously, he's not settled in as quickly as Tottenham wanted him to settle in," King told Football Insider.

"He is only 22, isn't he? But when you're paying that kind of money for a player, you're expecting him to go straight into your team and fit in comfortably, but he only got five minutes as a substitute versus Manchester United.

"I would be thinking that at this moment in time Spurs are terribly overloaded in that position or those positions.

"I've always questioned the recruitment of Tottenham, and they've soon got to start paying dividends because they've spent an awful lot of money. And for me, they've been bringing in pretty average players."

Tottenham midfield is a difficult puzzle to solve

As King says, Tottenham have far too many options in midfield, and that can prove to be a problem.

While having depth is key, too many choices can muddy the waters and make it difficult for the manager to select.

Sandro Tonali has been performing well over the last couple of weeks, so the Italian should be one of the first names on the team sheet.

However, then De Zerbi has two other slots open to choose between James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, Conor Gallagher and Fernandes.

Not an easy pool of players to choose from.