Sir Ratcliffe's stance on selling Bruno emerges after new transfer demand

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Manchester United hierarchy have already considered selling Bruno Fernandes in the past after Jamie Carragher claimed the club should cash in on their captain.

Fernandes has been one of United shining lights in a turbulent season but reports from earlier this summer suggested Ratcliffe and the club's board were open to the playmaker's sale before he agreed a new contract in August.

The 30-year-old has scored five goals and provided nine assists so far in the 2024-25 campaign and his departure would not go down well with the United fanbase if the club did decide to part ways.

A report from the Guardian in June claimed United were keen to find ways to inject more cash into the team while trimming the wage bill at the same time and saw Fernandes as a potential star who could be offloaded. It's believed he's earning around £220,000-a-week at Old Trafford.

The same report added that the player's agent Miguel Pinho had been in touch with interested sides, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona both understood to be keen on a move.

Fernandes has been pivotal for United in recent seasons since joining from Sporting Lisbon in 2020, scoring 84 times in 256 appearances, but Carragher feels the club should look at cashing in after entering his 30s.

He wrote in his Daily Telegraph column: "A dilemma also looms with Bruno Fernandes. Unlike [Marcus] Rashford, Fernandes has been one of United's best players during a tough period and would have shone with more quality around him during his Old Trafford career.

"But he is 30 now and there may be value in offloading him to raise funds. I've always felt Fernandes is a great talent rather than a great player. He creates a lot of chances but can be very undisciplined with and without the ball.

"That makes it a lot harder for United to defend as a compact unit as he chases the ball all over the pitch. It looks like great commitment to the supporters but the manager will be tearing his hair out."

It comes after Fernandes revealed he nearly left the Red Devils last summer after offers from Europe and Saudi Arabia but decided to sign a contract extension because the club "showed that it needed me".

"The club was aware that there was a possibility of me leaving, I had concrete offers," he revealed. "But the club showed that it needed me, that it was at a time of change and that they wanted to do things differently.

"I believe there is a dream future at this club with the changes that are taking place. That's why I chose to stay. There were other directions that would have been interesting for me, other expectations. But I feel good here, I feel loved and I feel that the club has been very respectful of me."