Bruno Fernandes salary demands pose Manchester United a major question

Of all the money spent by Manchester United in the last decade, none of it has provided as much return on investment as the €55 million ($66M) fee that brought Bruno Fernandes to Old Trafford six years ago.

Fernandes has been United’s top performer throughout that time, an all-action creative presence who has illuminated some of the darkest periods in the club’s modern history.

His current contract set to expire in the summer of 2027, albeit with a one-year extension option, meaning that United have a tough decision to make about Fernandes’ future.

A report in The Mirror claims that Fernandes will demand a salary worth roughly £400,000 ($550,000) per week to keep him at the club. Going forward, that would make him the highest-paid player at the club and would represent a huge financial outlay for a player who will be approaching 33 by next summer.

How much is Bruno Fernandes worth?

Since arriving at Old Trafford in January 2020, Fernandes has been the club’s main attacking performer. Even during Cristiano Ronaldo’s late-career return to Manchester, it was Fernandes who had the biggest impact on the team’s offensive output.

In his six seasons with the club, Manchester United fans have named Fernandes the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year on four occasions, the joint-most wins of any player since its introduction in 1988.

Now 31 years old, United would need to sell Fernandes this year to get a significant transfer fee for their star player. There have been multiple reports of interest from Saudi Arabia but it remains to be seen whether the United captain would be willing to make the step down at this point in his career.

For United, the situation may be simplified by the news that Casemiro will leave this summer at the end of his current contract. The Brazilian midfielder is thought to be on a salary of around £400,000 at Old Trafford, freeing up a substantial amount of cash to hand Fernandes a pay raise.

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