Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is staying at Old Trafford despite a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia. The Portuguese player has indicated that he has declined an offer from Al Hilal.
Al Hilal was prepared to go far for the thirty-year-old midfielder. According to The Guardian and the Portuguese Record, the club wanted to pay over 100 million euros to Manchester United. Fernandes could have earned a total of more than 200 million euros if he had signed for three seasons in Saudi Arabia.
The 78-time Portuguese international admits that he discussed the offer with his wife. “She didn’t say yes or no, she would always support me,” Fernandes said at a press conference with the national team, which is preparing for the Nations League match against Germany. “She did ask me what professional goals I still have.”
Those goals were decisive. Fernandes wants to continue playing at the highest level. “I still want to compete for prizes, because I feel that I still have that in me. I still have the passion.”
United did not want to let Fernandes go, the captain was told by manager and compatriot Rúben Amorim. “If they really wanted to sell me, I would have been willing to think along. But Amorim really talked it out of my head.”
Fernandes has been playing for United for 5.5 years
Fernandes arrived from Sporting CP in early 2020 and has become a figurehead for Manchester United. In 290 official matches, he has scored 98 times and provided 86 assists.
Last season, he scored nineteen goals and provided nineteen assists in 57 appearances for ‘The Red Devils’. Nevertheless, United finished only fifteenth in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.