There have been various rumours that Bruno Fernandes could depart Old Trafford this summer for a fresh challenge. The rumour mill went into overdrive this weekend with reports that Bayern Munich have approached the Manchester United captain’s agent, Miguel Pinho, to sound out if he’d be interested in a move to the German giants. With just two more years left on his current deal, Fernandes potentially has a big decision this summer as to whether he stays or leaves the club.
Traditionally the top clubs don’t like to let players enter the final 18 months of their contracts without tying them down. Following the last home game of the season against Newcastle, Fernandes was asked on the pitch whether he intended to stay at the club and sign a new contract for the impending rebuild under INEOS or whether he saw his future elsewhere. The response that Bruno gave was that if the club want him to stay then he will.
The interesting aspect to this is Bruno Fernandes effectively asking whether the club would like him to stick around. The club captain has undoubtedly been the best signing of the post-Fergie era and has given his all for United since arriving in January 2020. The overwhelming majority of supporters would love him to stay and hopefully lead the club under the new structure that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is starting to implement.
The club too, be it manager Erik ten Hag (or a potential replacement), the technical staff and ownership would also, you would think, like him to stay. Therefore, his comments post-Newcastle may refer to whether the club can offer him a new contract on the terms which he desires but more importantly whether we can match Fernandes’ ambition on the pitch. Prior to the FA Cup final against Manchester City, Fernandes released a statement via The Players Tribune. Part of which stated:
“I love to step out at Old Trafford more than anything in the world. I don’t want to leave. This has always been my ultimate dream. I just want my expectations to fit with the expectations of the club. If you go talk to any fan, they will tell you the same thing. We want to compete for the league. We want to be playing [UEFA] Champions League football. We want to be in cup finals. That is the standard. That is what I want. That is what you all deserve.”
It is going to be yet another big summer at Old Trafford with key appointments to the technical staff and many incomings and outgoings regarding the squad. For Bruno Fernandes, who turns 30 this September, he may well be thinking this is his last big contract coming up and that considering the effort and commitment he has shown the club he only has a League Cup and this seasons FA Cup to his name. When it comes to Europe’s premier competition, the UEFA Champions League, he has been part of a club that has flattered to deceive by either underperforming in the competition or by not qualifying at all.
At this stage of his career, Fernandes wants to compete for trophies on a regular basis and would like to be at a club which would allow him to do this. In an ideal world, as he has stated, he would love this to be at Manchester United. However, how long would yet another rebuild which could turn the club into title challengers take? It may well be hard to shift some players on big contracts who the club need to move on. This coupled with PSR being a major issue now throughout the Premier League may mean this process could take another couple of years at least, despite Pep Guardiola potentially leaving City next summer and Jurgen Klopp already departing Anfield this May.
We all hope that INEOS get the pieces of the puzzle in place as soon as possible and that the surgery the squad and whole club has needed for some time is implemented without too many mistakes. If that is the case then success could return relatively quickly, but this is something that Bruno Fernandes has to weigh up when considering does he sign another contract at Old Trafford, which may mean he commits the rest of his career to United or whether he moves on to pastures new in search of success.
Loading ...One thing that is for certain is that nobody could really begrudge Fernandes a move if he feels that for his career and for his family that he would like a new challenge. He has given his all for United when so many others have not. He only needs to look at Harry Kane’s move to his potential suitors, Bayern Munich, however to discover that success is never guaranteed. Many felt that Kane, long Spurs’ talisman, would finally get his hands on a trophy in Bavaria when making his move to the Bundesliga last summer but ultimately that was not the case last season.
Hopefully, Fernandes does weigh up all of this and come to the conclusion that whilst success and trophies are never guaranteed to anyone, he would be best placed committing his future to a Manchester United which is now getting it’s act together. With big changes planned at Old Trafford and big managerial departures this summer and potentially next, the landscape may be changing in the Premier League and Fernandes may well finally be in a position to lead a club with the expectations and standards in place from the top down to compete and win the biggest prizes in the game.
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Some serious thinking required from both sides. Ineos must sit down with Bruno and outline their plans for the next few years. If that means he is the first to know who will be next season’s Manager, then so be it. As this article suggests – and we all know – United aren’t going to be challenging for the league title any time soon, so the need is to convince Fernandes that a squad is going to be built that at least can finish top four, and also do well in Europa League; maybe win it.
For Bruno, if he’s after League titles, can he have his pick of clubs to join? It’s anyone’s guess how Bayern Munich will do under their new Manager, them aside, are any of Europe’s decent, possibly title-winning Teams interested?
Real Madrid? Barcelona? PSG? (Fake team like you-know-who in England, but question still remains.
I sincerely want him to stay for everything he brings to the side – the fact he winds up supporters of ordinary Clubs is, of course, a welcome bonus!
If Bruno was to leave it would be a major blow to United If Bruno was to leave and ETH stay that would reflect really badly on ETH in my opinion as it would mean that Bruno has no faith in him leading United to major silverware WE will be loosing Varane and it looks Casemiro as well we cannot afford to loose to many high quality players who know how to win major trophies . So yes I hope that Bruno stays
Best captiain we have ever had. He’s an inspiration and a leader of men. He should stay forever.