All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
If you wake up from sleep and you find wetness, even if it is just Mathy (pre-seminal fluid) as you said, and you remember having a wet dream, then you are obliged to perform Ghusl according to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. The scholars of the Hanafi school stated that if someone wakes up and finds Mathy and he remembers having a wet dream, then he is obliged to perform Ghusl. Al-Bahr Ar-Raa’iq: Sharh Kanz Ad-Daqaa’iq reads: “It is an obligation according to the agreement of the (Hanafi) scholars to perform Ghusl if one is sure that it is Maniyy (semen) whether or not he remembers having a wet dream, and if he is sure that it is Mathy and he remembers having a wet dream.”
The reason they say Ghusl is obligatory is that what came out could have be semen but after a long time it became thin so when waking up, the person believes that it is Mathy. Al-Bahr Ar-Raa'iq reads: “We do not say that Ghusl is obligatory because of Mathy, but because Maniyy becomes thin after a long period and looks just like Mathy but it is not really Mathy; this is regarding when some sleeping wakes up and finds wetness….”
However, the Hanbali and the Maaliki schools of jurisprudence hold that if a person knows that it is Mathy, then he is not obliged to perform Ghusl. Al-Kashshaaf, which is one of the books of the Hanbali school, reads; “…or that he is sure – i.e. about the wetness – that it is Mathy, then this does not render Ghusl obligatory, but one is obliged to wash the place that it has come in contact with.”
On the other hand, Maaliki scholar, Al-Mawwaaq, the author of At-Taaj wal-Ikleel, says (quoting from Al-Mudawwanah): “If a person wakes up from his sleep and finds wetness in his bed sheet, then if it is Maniyy, he has to perform Ghusl, and if it is Mathy, he has to wash his penis. Ibn Naafi’ said: If he is uncertain whether it is Maniyy or Mathy, then he has to perform Ghusl. Ibn Yoonus said: He should perform Ghusl as a precaution to be on the safe side.”
Allaah Knows best.