Bruno Fernandes has sensationally claimed Manchester United wanted him to leave the club in the summer after receiving interest from Saudi Arabia
Manchester United bosses insist they told Bruno Fernandes during the summer that he remained central to the club’s long-term vision. Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal tabled an enormous financial package in a bid to entice Fernandes away from Old Trafford.
Nevertheless, no official discussions took place with United and Fernandes turned down their advances. Fernandes addressed that choice in October, revealing that the manager and the club made it clear they wanted him to remain.
However, Fernandes now appears to have contradicted those comments during a chat with Canal 11, the subscription television channel of the Portuguese Football Federation.
Speaking to Canal 11, he revealed: “The club wanted me to go, I have that in my head. I told the directors this, but I think they didn’t have the courage to make that decision. I decided to stay.
“Also because of family reasons, but because I genuinely like the club. The conversation with the manager also made me stay. But, from the club’s side, I felt a bit like, ‘If you leave, it’s not so bad for us’.
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“It hurts me a lot. More than hurting, it makes me sad because I’m a player who they have nothing to criticise about. I’m always available, and I always play – good or bad – I give my all.”
Manchester Evening News report that United insiders have emphasised that the hierarchy made it abundantly clear throughout the summer that Fernandes remained integral to their future vision.
During that chat, Fernandes explained: “The manager spoke with me. He said I was still part of the project. He wanted me to stay. The club said the same. And I always said that if the club was like ‘Bruno, we want to cash in, you are 30 years old. We want to make some money. We don’t think you can be part of the future project’, or whatever, I would be like, OK, I have to find a solution for myself, whatever is best for me and my family. And I will leave.
“But obviously that wasn’t the case. I felt that I was still part of the plan, that I could still help the club to achieve whatever was our aims. And that’s what made me stay. Obviously, I have a big connection with the fans, with the club, also the country. My family feels very well here.”
The discussion was organised ahead of his milestone 300th outing for United. When quizzed about whether he’d spoken to Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, Fernandes confirmed: “I spoke with both, obviously. I think the first time I spoke was already in Malaysia, because that was when everything started.
“I had a conversation with Omar and I told him, ‘look, this is what is on the table. I know the club might be looking at this in a way. I will be looking at it in a different way. So I just want to know from your perspective, from your side, what’s the point of view, what you guys want to do. And then from there on, I will do my things’.
“And obviously, the first one, Jason said, like Omar said, ‘we won’t say no. But obviously, it’s the thing that we want you to stay at the club. But if you want to go, we won’t say that it’s not the offer for us, because obviously it’s massive money’. As I said this many times, the club’s last biggest sale was £20million, probably from Daniel James.”
Fernandes continued: “And then from there on, I spoke with the manager also. I said, ‘look, this is what I have, this is the offers that I have on the table’. Obviously, I said to him, I have to think about if the club says, ‘we want you to go, because we want to get a different player. We need money to get more players or whatever’.
“That was not the case from the club. They always said to me that they will buy, they will reinforce the team. They wanted players. The manager said to me, like, ‘no, we want more players to help you to become a better team.
“So we don’t want you to go, because then if we bring some people and then we lose you, we’re still going to lose something’. So more or less, that was the conversation between all of us.”
Fernandes’ contract with United is set to run out in 2027, but there’s the possibility of a 12-month extension.
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