Manchester United have reached a fork in the road with Bruno Fernandes. One direction offers a tempting £100 million windfall, while the other sees a route toward a brighter future led by the team’s talisman. However, neither is guaranteed to lead to United’s desired destination: a return to glories.
At some point in the coming days, somebody at Old Trafford may have to make a huge decision: reject all offers for the 30-year-old, or cash in now and use the money to rebuild Ruben Amorim’s inadequate squad.
United could follow Liverpool‘s blueprint and transform their fortunes, as the Anfield club did by investing in Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker after getting a £145m windfall by offloading Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in 2018.
But it’s not always that simple, as Tottenham Hotspur found out in 2013 after they received £85m from the departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.
Seven players were signed with the Bale money, but only one — Christian Eriksen — proved to be a success. Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli, Vlad Chiriches, Erik Lamela, Paulinho and Roberto Soldado were the other six signings, and all came and went without making an impact. At least for Spurs, they made their transfer errors when they were in the upper echelons of the table, and managed to stay there in the seasons that followed.
Considering United’s chequered record in the transfer market in recent years — it’s arguable that they haven’t made a truly successful signing since Fernandes arrived from Sporting CP for £47m in January 2020 — trusting the club to wisely re-invest any Fernandes fee could be a leap of faith. But after enduring their worst-ever Premier League season — and the team’s lowest top-flight finish (15th) since being relegated in 1974 — United are in a position of weakness, and it is one that Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are determined to exploit.
Sources have told ESPN that the Riyadh-based club are prepared to pay £100m million to sign Fernandes ahead of the Club World Cup, which kicks off in two weeks.
Fernandes is United’s best player and the only one who comes close to being regarded as world-class. Even during their nightmare season, he scored 19 goals and registered 18 assists and almost single-handedly dragged the side to the Europa League final, where they lost to Spurs and missed out on a back-door route into the Champions League.
The Portugal midfielder only signed a new contract at United in August, securing his future through to 2027, so United could reject any offer and insist he’s not available for transfer. But missing out on the Champions League has left a huge hole in United’s finances, of at least £80m and perhaps in excess of £100m, so they have been backed into a corner.
Amorim said last week that United would prefer to raise funds by dispensing with other players, namely Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony, but even if they could find clubs take all three — Sancho is expected to make his loan to Chelsea a permanent deal for £25m this month — the sum total of any fees is unlikely to match what Al Hilal are offering.
If Fernandes decides he wants to leave, the reality of United’s financial situation means they would have little option but to do a deal with Al Hilal, but it would be down to United to turn that into an opportunity. The worst-case scenario for United is a repeat of what happened to Spurs without Bale, but what if they could copy Liverpool’s blueprint?
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Did Manchester United overpay for Cunha?
The “ESPN FC” crew discuss their thoughts on Matheus Cunha joining Manchester United for 62.5 million pounds.
Jurgen Klopp was just over a year into his time at Liverpool and struggling to revive the team while Coutinho, like Fernandes at United, was his best and most creative player. It was a blow to Liverpool’s prospects and prestige when the Brazil international moved to Camp Nou, but Klopp’s team never looked back from that moment onwards. Van Dijk arrived from Southampton for £75m and Alisson became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when signing from Roma for £67m.
The Coutinho deal showed that no player is irreplaceable. Liverpool lost a big name, but replaced him with two players who would go on to become Anfield legends.
United are clearly a better team with Fernandes in it, but last season showed that they are still not a very good one. Perhaps the best move for United would be to take the money for Fernandes and use it to sign the players that Amorim desperately needs. A goalkeeper, a right-back, a central midfielder, and an attacking midfielder are all desperately required if this Man United team are to be transformed from also-rans in the bottom half of the table.
They just have to take the Coutinho path and make sure they avoid the Bale one.
