Bruno Fernandes has revealed when he will consider his future at Manchester United (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA, Getty Images)
Bruno Fernandes is happy at Manchester United and insists he won’t think about his future until after the World Cup. Saudi professional league side Al Hilal have turned their focus to Fernandes as a high-profile signing after Mohamed Salah committed his future to Liverpool.
Despite the Saudi side making a hefty financial offer to lure Fernandes away from Manchester, there has been no formal contact with United. The Portugal international also rejected their proposal in order to remain at Old Trafford. During the summer, the United captain explained his decision to remain in Manchester’s red side. But speaking to journalists in Carrington on Friday, he revealed new details about the al-Hilal rejection.
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“I had discussions with Al Hilal. We all know that. We all know that. There were other clubs who tried out after Al Hilal, but obviously my answer will not change. A few people from Europe have talked to me, but I haven’t gotten to the stage of making an offer or not. It’s very good that people want you, but then you have to come up with money for the club, otherwise the club won’t let me go.”
“Obviously, I think the specific one is from Saudi. To be honest, there was no need for me to leave the club at the moment. I talked to the manager as well as Saudi, and I think that’s why we didn’t end up in talks with clubs in Europe… because they didn’t show much interest in me going somewhere. So they sensed it a little bit and they said, ‘We’re going to waste our time, and in a month or two we’ll say no’ in a few weeks.” ” Then the manager spoke to me. He said I was still part of the project. He wanted me to stay. The club said the same thing.
“And if the club were like, ‘Bruno, we want to make money, you’re 30 years old, we want to make money, I don’t think you can be part of any future projects,’ I would say, ‘Okay, I have to find a solution myself, whatever is best for me and my family. And I’m leaving.’
“But obviously that wasn’t the case. I felt I was still part of the plan and could help the club achieve whatever our goals were. And that’s what made me stay. Obviously I have a big connection with the fans, the club and also the country. My family is very well here.”
Bruno Fernandes admits Ruben Amorim wanted him to stay (Image: Mark Atkins, Getty Images)
Fernandes added: “The kids love going to school. They love living here, with the weather and everything else. Nothing is wrong today (lol). But obviously everyone is settling in very well. I’m very happy to be here. Of course I miss home, but my goal is not to go now to play in Portugal again. And of course home for me is Porto, not Lisbon.”
“Of course, if I have the chance to play in Portugal again, I will always put Sporting in front of everyone and get the chance to play in front of them again. But it feels like home here too. When I talk to my family, I often say that sometimes, when I talk to my family, home here feels more like home than in Portugal, because we were only there for two, three weeks, if not more. That was one of the many reasons behind that.”
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Asked if he had had discussions with Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, Fernandes added: “Of course, I spoke to both of them. I think the first one I spoke to was already in Malaysia, because that’s how it all started. I spoke to Omar and said, ‘Look, this is what’s on the table.’ I know the club might look at this one way. I’m going to look at it another way. So I just want to know from you. “The perspective, from your side, what is the perspective, what do you guys want to do. And from there, I’ll do what I have to do. ”
“And obviously the first one, as Omar said, Jason also said: ‘We’re not going to say no, but obviously that’s what we want you to stay at the club. But if you want to go, we’re not going to say that’s not an offer for us, because obviously it’s a huge amount of money.’ As I’ve said many times, the club’s last biggest sale was for £20 million, probably from Daniel James.
Fernandez also met with Omar Berada (left) (Image: OLI SCARFF, AFP, Getty Images)
“I don’t know. Scott[McTominay]was above that. But if you go from there and Al Hilal are offering a big price like £80m or £100m, it seems like they were willing to pay more than they were willing to pay for a player.”
Fernandes added: “And from there, I also talked to the manager and said, ‘Look, this is what I have, this is the offer that I have on the table.’ Of course, I told him that if a club says, “We want you to leave because we want to get another player,” then you have to think about it. We need money to acquire more players. ”
“It wasn’t like that from the club side. They always told me, buy the team, reinforce them. They wanted players. The manager told me: ‘No, we want more players to help you become a better team. So we don’t want you to leave, because if we bring in some and then lose you, we’ll still lose something.’
“More or less, it was a conversation between all of us. I spoke one person at a time. I didn’t go with everyone.”
Fernandes won’t think about his future at United until after the 2026 World Cup (Image: Getty)
Fernandes has made it clear that the situation at United remains the same and that talks will not take place until after the World Cup. He added, “No, it will be the same situation.
“As I always say, I feel good here. I still want to make my dream come true. But obviously I can’t speak on the club’s side. I’ve seen a lot of news, I’ve seen a lot of people saying that there was already an agreement to go next season. Even if the club made that agreement, it wasn’t with me.”
“So, I haven’t talked to anyone. I can tell you, of course, there are still people who have spoken to me and said they’re very excited to have me next year.”
“But from my side, it hasn’t been talked about, because my agent also knows how I work. So if he wants to talk to me, it will be after the World Cup. Until then, I don’t talk to anyone.”
