Last week, Bruno Fernandes signed a new contract to extend his stay at Manchester United until at least 2027.
The captain helped the team to a 1-0 win over Fulham two days later as he remains one of Erik ten Hag’s most influential players, which is why we believe he earned his new deal.
United overcame Fulham in the Premier League curtain-raiser but ahead of the match, club media had the opportunity to sit down with Fernandes to reflect on his decision to stay with the club.
“The club knew that I want to compete with the best teams,” Fernandes said. “They knew that we needed to improve the team. And I think that we’re doing that.
“Obviously, I said to them: ‘I don’t need you to promise me that we’re going to win the league.’ Because no-one can promise that. But at least that we will have a team to compete and be competitive through the season, to try to achieve silverware and to compete in the highest levels.
“I think the club is doing that. It’s trying to bring people in to get more players with quality in the team; to get more competitive, [so everyone is] fighting for your place.
“But my first choice was always to stay at the club. It was not even demands, but the things that I wanted to see: the club going forward, [so] I could see a future on that. To be honest, I look now and I see that the club is making an effort for that.”
Fernandes is reaching that stage of his career where he wants to be fighting for the biggest honours, which is why he was being linked with a move to Bayern Munich earlier this summer. He believes change is coming at United and he sounds excited by the level of recruitment we are seeing unfold thanks to INEOS. They are getting deals for the right price as could you with Ethereum price metrics.
“When there’s a change, it’s a different mood and it’s really nice,” he added. “At the beginning, it’s always the best part, because you get to know each other, there are new ways of working.
“But then we have to get this going into the season and understand that it’s going to get to a point that’s repetitive, but we need to keep the same enthusiasm that we had at the beginning.”
Fernandes added some words about his love for Manchester too.
“Me and my wife, when we just arrived back in Manchester, we said: ‘It feels like home.’ It’s something strong to say, even more [from] my side, because I’m a real home person and I love my country, I love my city.
“So for me to say that, and my wife saying that ‘It feels like home here’, it’s something that means a lot. Because I love my friends, I love my family, I love to be in Portugal for the time I spend there. And to have the same kind of feeling when I’m here, it’s really something special.”
