The Manchester United captain must decide whether to leave Old Trafford in a remarkable £100million transfer that would see him pick up £700k-a-week, and where club bosses may well feel they need the money more than him after their disastrous season
Bruno Fernandes has been given SEVEN DAYS to decide to leave Manchester United. The club captain is wanted by Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in a monster £100million transfer, that would also see the Portuguese earn himself £100m tax-free – a whopping £700k-a-week – over the next three years.
Al Hilal will play in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, and Saudi chiefs are desperate to see their marquee club make a splash, well aware that the eyes of the world will be on them when they face Real Madrid in their tournament opener on June 18.
And they are desperate to land 30-year-old Fernandes, in a move that would see him link up with Portugal team-mates Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo, ex-Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, former Fulham hitman Aleksandar Mitrovic, and, potentially, Cristiano Ronaldo – if a deal can be fixed to allow him to join on a temporary deal.
Fernandes’ agent, Miguel Pinho, spent three days in Saudi at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh this week, as he held negotiations with club Al Hilal representatives. And there is growing belief that Fernandes could be persuaded to make the move.
Publicly, United insist their best player is not for sale. However, the £100m transfer fee is a transformational sum given their financial predicament, with those pressures having only grown after last week’s Europa League Final loss to Spurs, a defeat which ultimately cost them £100m in Champions League revenue next term.
READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes transfer: Ruben Amorim makes statement and points finger at Man Utd ownersREAD MORE: Paul Scholes urges Man Utd to sell Bruno Fernandes for two glaring reasons
Publicly, United insist their best player is not for sale. However, the £100m transfer fee is a transformational sum given their financial predicament and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Fernandes is asked to leave for the good of the club.
But boss Ruben Amorim is desperate for him to STAY – and told Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the club’s decision-makers to make up the money elsewhere.
Speaking after United ended their post-season tour of Asia with a 3-1 victory over Hong Kong, which Fernandes played the opening 45 minutes of, Amorim was asked if fans had seen the last of their captain in action.
“I don’t think so, I don’t know for sure. Nobody knows but I don’t think so,” the Red Devils boss said. “I think he is seeing us taking some actions to change all the things and I think he saw that and I think he wants to stay.
“He is saying no to a lot of things but he shows he wants to win. He’s really young, he’s really good he needs to be in the best league in the world.”
Amorim was then asked if United, who’ve failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 11 years, were in a position to turn down the kind of money which Al-Hilal would be willing to pay for Fernandes.
“Yes, we can find another way to earn money,” he replied. “Of course I’m the manager, I’m the coach but sometimes it’s the decision of the player. But of course I talk with him, I explain things. I just have that feeling if he wants to stay.
“Of course in a lot of games this season he was so frustrated but he knows what we are doing.
“The feeling is every time I speak with him he wants to continue at Manchester United but you never know.”
Fernandes won the club’s player of the year award for a record-equalling fourth time having been a shining light during the Red Devils’ worst top-flight campaign since suffering relegation in 1973-74.
But former United star Paul Scholes believes club chiefs should “bite Al Hilal’s hand off” and take the money for the Old Trafford talisman.
The 11-time Premier League champion said on The Overlap Fan Debate : “They are talking about £100m for him. Man United cannot say no to that.
“You know when you talk about this system as well, I know he has been brilliant and carried the team on his back but where does he play? What is his position? Do you see him as a number 10? Do you see him as a holding midfielder?
“He almost confuses the whole system because he doesn’t have that one position for him. I mean he has been brilliant don’t get me wrong.
“But when you’re getting £100m for him you snap their hand off and take it.”
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