Mateus Fernandes embraces Portugal U21 role as Tottenham midfielder insists: ‘I’m developing’

Mateus Fernandes may have missed out on Portugal’s latest senior squad, but the Tottenham midfielder is refusing to allow that disappointment to distract from his development.

The 21-year-old remains with Portugal U21s during the international break after being overlooked by Jorge Jesus following the World Cup.

Rather than viewing that as a setback, Fernandes has embraced his responsibility within Luís Freire’s squad. He is captain of the U21s and remains a central figure as Portugal continue their impressive European Championship qualifying campaign.

Portugal entered their clash with Bulgaria sitting top of Group B with 19 points from seven matches, winning six and drawing once.

Even more impressively, they had scored 28 goals without conceding.

Fernandes believes maintaining those standards requires Portugal to remain focused rather than looking too far ahead.

“Bulgaria will rely a lot on counter-attacks. They’ll end up defending and looking to make use of set pieces,” Fernandes said.

“We’re prepared to react when we lose the ball, but the most important thing is to focus on ourselves.

“We’ve conceded zero goals and scored a lot. We know the quality we have, individually and collectively.”

Despite Portugal’s commanding position, Fernandes is refusing to discuss their European Championship ambitions in any great detail.

“Our ambitions for the European Championship are about thinking only about what’s immediately ahead of us,” he explained.

“At the last European Championship, we were eliminated having conceded only one goal. The level is high in these tournaments and we can’t take anything for granted along the way.”

Perhaps the most significant comments from a Tottenham perspective concerned Fernandes’ individual progress.

The midfielder believes the previous two years have transformed him both as a player and personally.

“The last two years have been incredible for me individually, both on and off the pitch,” Fernandes said.

“I’m developing more and more.”

That mentality could prove important as Fernandes attempts to establish himself further at Tottenham while simultaneously pushing for recognition with Portugal’s senior side.

For now, though, he appears determined not to become consumed by questions about when that senior opportunity will arrive.

Captaining Portugal U21s gives him another platform to develop, and strong performances at club and international level remain the clearest route towards eventually forcing his way into Jorge Jesus’ plans.

Fernandes’ immediate attention remains on Portugal U21 duty, with Bulgaria followed by Gibraltar on September 30.

Beyond that, his challenge is to continue developing at Tottenham and produce the performances required to earn another opportunity with Portugal’s senior team.