Real Madrid are interested in exploiting a relegation release clause in a West Ham United player’s contract, according to reports.

West Ham have endured a woeful 2025/26 campaign and currently sit 18th in the Premier Leaguewith four wins from 22 matches.

West Ham face losing their best players if relegated

They sacked Graham Potter after five games and replaced him with former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who is now facing down the barrel himself.

Beating Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank in last Saturday’s ‘El Sackico’certainly bought Nuno some time after he looked resigned to his fate when the Hammers handed Wolves their first Premier League win of the season on matchday 20.

If West Ham are relegated to the Championship, they could face a mass exodus of players in the summer transfer window.

It would be interesting to see if Jarrod Bowen stays loyal to the Hammers (and Danny Dyer) or ask to leave for top-flight football, and players like Mateus Fernandes would surely want to leave, while Lucas Paqueta has expressed his desire to return to Brazil in January.

Fernandes only joined West Ham from Southampton last summer in a deal worth around ￡40million and the Portuguese has probably been Nuno’s best player this season.

Having gone down with the Saints last term, Fernandes was eager to make a swift return to the Premier League, and should he experience the same fate this season, he will surely seek pastures new again.

READ:?Who will be the next manager of West Ham after Nuno Espirito Santo sack?

Real Madrid want a West Ham player? Really?

The idea of Real Madrid being in for a relegated West Ham player is an amusing one, but Defensa Centralsay that would be the case if the Irons go down to the Championship.

The website claims that?Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is ‘keeping an eye on Fernandes’ after learning about a relegation release clause in his contract.

Los Blancos might prefer PSG star Vitinha and Man City’s Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, but it’s stated that the 21-year-old has emerged as an ‘unexpected potential signing’.

This is because Fernandes has a relegation release clause worth around ￡20m, but the La Liga giants are not the only club interested after the details in the player’s contract were ‘leaked’.

Both Manchester United and Man City are reportedly interested, with the former also keeping tabs on Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes and have apparently ‘made an offer’ for Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves.

But if Perez wants Fernandes, Perez likely gets Fernandes.

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