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bruno fernandes Talking of hundreds and lakhs. when he leads Manchester United Outside against brighton on saturdayThe captain will become the 63rd player to play 300 matches for the club. He has achieved the historic feat in less than six years, hitting a treble of 100 goals, but the man who has been both United’s best signing and best player since Sir Alex Ferguson retired is a personal success story amid widespread malaise.
Fernandes said, “I want to be recognized by the many good things I have done for the club, that I have brought something back to the club, and not just by my individual numbers.” Sometimes, it feels like wasted heroism, a man trying to do it all alone. Avoid the drop at Old TraffordBut as United suffered their worst season in half a century, Fernandes was offered the most attractive escape route. He could have a notably fascinating reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo, his Portugal captain at Al-Hilal and his former Sporting CP manager Jorge Jesus. And he chose to stay at a club that finished 15th last year.
Fernandes was quick to point out that he was hardly penniless at United, but it was still a remarkable display of loyalty. “The offer was very good in terms of salary,” he said. “Everything was huge for me. I had a conversation with Al-Hilal. Everyone knows that. There were other clubs who tried after Al-Hilal, but my answer would not change. Even from Saudis. From Europe, I had some people talking to me, but we never got to the place where we would put an offer on the table or not. Solid Saudis. Was.”
Fernandes spoke to Ronaldo and Jesus, but he also spoke to United chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and the manager. Reuben AmorimThey allowed him to go but abandoned him, no doubt because their priority was to keep him with them.
Fernandes explained: “Jason said, like Omar said, ‘We wouldn’t say no, but obviously we want you to stay at the club. But if you want to go, we won’t say it’s not a good offer for us, because it’s huge money.’ The club’s last biggest sale was probably £20 million for Daniel James, I’m not quite sure. Scott [McTominay] Went above that. But for Al-Hilal to go for a bigger sum than that… they could offer £80-100 million. They were very eager to pay.
“I always said that if the club was like ‘Bruno, we want to cash in, you’re 30. We want to make some money. We don’t think you can be part of a future project’ or whatever, I would say, ‘Okay, I have to find a solution for myself, whatever is best for me and my family, and I’ll leave.’ But obviously that was not the case. I thought I was still part of the plan.’
United can probably thank Fernandes’ wife Ana Pinho and their children Matilde and Goncalo. He also wanted to live in Manchester. “My family feels very good here,” the midfielder said. “My children love going to school. They love the way they live here, even with the weather. We are very happy to be here. Obviously, we miss home, but my goal is no longer to go to Portugal to play again. And obviously, home for me is Porto, not Lisbon. But now we feel at home here.”
On a personal level, Fernandes is content in Manchester. However, some of his business ambitions remain unfulfilled. United have won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup since his arrival in 2020, but not the major prizes. “Everyone knows my goal is to win the Premier League and the Champions League with the club,” he said. “I won’t be able to tell you if I’m going to do it or not.” Logic would suggest no: not considering the depths to which he plunged last season.
But if the win over Liverpool has the potential to prove a turning point, United gave Fernandes a message he liked in the summer: rather than cashing in on him, they will invest in players to ease the goalscoring burden on him.
“We needed to sign big players,” Fernandes said. “I think we have brought in players who are very aware of the dimension of the club. [Matheus] Cunha has a good ego about doing good and doing the right thing, so that’s something good. brian [Mbeumo]Same also. Ben [Sesko] It will be decided on the basis of whether he scores goals or not but he is performing brilliantly.”
Perhaps due to the failures of previous teammates, Fernandes did not receive widespread recognition. In addition to his 100 goals, he also has 84 assists for the club. Yet individual honors and places on the Ballon d’Or shortlist go to those who have won more prestigious trophies and played in better sides.
“Maybe people will say, ‘Yeah, Bruno is doing great’,” Fernandes reflected. “But that’s not what I want. Obviously, I want people to say good things about me – I’d be lying if I didn’t – but I want team achievements, because that would be huge for me too, it would also make me a better player in the eyes of people.”
And he certainly put the pursuit of collective achievement at United above his bank balance. “Money is important to everyone in life, that’s why I’m lying [if I said not]Fernandes added, “But I am not in a position where I have to count my money or I will have problems in the future if I do things right. I am not struggling, I am not someone who has spent all the money I have earned over the years. And when I finish my career, I just want to have a comfortable life in my own home, going to a coffee shop with my dad sometimes.”
Should Fernandes be able to pay for those coffees, his eventual retirement should be supported by the knowledge that he gave everything to the United cause. Even then he was offered money to leave.