Bruno Fernandes will be open to leaving Manchester United at the end of the season after so far rejecting strong interest from Saudi Arabia this summer.
Fernandes turned down an offer from Al-Hilal worth £200million over three years including bonuses after his agent Miguel Pinho flew to Riyadh for talks, and has since been linked with two of the Saudi Pro League’s other big clubs, Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad.
Confidential understands the United captain wants to stay at Old Trafford for another season and avoid any disruption before playing for Portugal in the World Cup next summer.
However, Fernandes would then be open to a new project as he approaches his 32nd birthday, and would consider a move to Saudi, MLS or one of Europe’s major leagues.
The former Sporting Lisbon star would have one year left on his £280,000-a-week contract, although United have the option to extend it by another 12 months.
The Old Trafford hierarchy might be prepared to listen to offers for their best player next summer having just spent £130m on Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, who have replaced Fernandes in the two No.10 positions in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system.
The United skipper is having problems adapting to a deeper midfield role, and also missed a penalty in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Fulham.
It seems unlikely that Fernandes will leave United this summer, but the situation could yet change if Al-Ittihad make him a take-it-or-leave-it offer before the Saudi transfer window closes on September 10 that would eclipse even Al-Hilal’s proposal to quadruple his salary.
The SPL club, who are trying to free up a slot in their squad by selling former Liverpool defender Fabinho, could also tempt United with a bid in excess of £100m.
Having said in the wake of United’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in May that he would understand if the club cashed in on him, Fernandes confirmed the Saudi interest earlier this month but insisted he has unfinished business at Old Trafford.
‘It was a very ambitious proposal. The president was a fantastic person,’ he said. ‘But I haven't fulfilled my dreams here yet.
'Obviously, I know it was tough on the club to decide that because it was a big amount of money that the club hasn't got probably since Cristiano [Ronaldo] left, he was the last one where they got so much money for a player.
‘I think I can still give something to the club. I think I'm still in a position where I'm helpful, so the thing for me is that I will be here until the club decides that “Bruno, it's time to go”.’
Senne the secret striker
United's hopes of signing Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens in a £17million deal are believed to be in the balance despite fighting off late competition from Galatasaray.
It’s understood the Turkish club have outbid United for Lammens but he only wants to move to Old Trafford. However, United are juggling a number of other deals that could impact their ability to bring in the 23-year-old before the transfer deadline.
If the deal does go through, history suggests the Antwerp keeper might be able to help with their goalscoring problems too.
Lammens started out as a striker at Belgian junior clubs RC Bambrugge and FCV Dender before going in goal, and then hit the headlines with a late equaliser for Club Brugge against Real Madrid in the UEFA Youth League in December 2019.
With Brugge’s Under-19s trailing 2-1 and in need of an equaliser to advance to the next stage of the competition, Lammens came up for a corner in the 95th minute and used his experience as a striker to head in at the near post.
‘Every few months, I still look back at those images. Pure goosebumps,’ he said recently. ‘It’s a moment I will cherish forever.’
Sources maintain that a potential deal for Lammens will not affect Andre Onana’s situation at United even though the Cameroonian hasn’t featured in the opening two games against Arsenal and Fulham. Onana is set to make his first appearance of the season in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Grimsby.
Reluctant farewell for Rasmus
Rasmus Hojlund move to Napoli is edging closer but Confidential has learned that the Denmark striker remains desperate to stay at United.
It’s less than a month since Hojlund approached reporters in Chicago with the words ‘does anyone want to speak to me’ and spoke of his desire to fight for a future at Old Trafford after scoring in the pre-season win over Bournemouth at Soldier Field.
Benjamin Sesko’s £73.7million move to United from RB Leipzig has altered the picture, with Hojlund being left out of the squad completely for United’s first two games of the season as talks continue over a return to Serie A with Napoli.
But it’s understood that the 22-year-old’s preference is overwhelmingly to stay at United for a third season after moving from Atalanta for £72m in the summer of 2023.
It appears unlikely to happen with Hojlund’s final game for United potentially coming in the Carabao Cup tie at Grimsby on Wednesday.
Although Amorim says there will be changes at Blundell Park, he was reluctant to discuss Hojlund specifically. ‘All the players are available,’ said the United boss. ‘Then we make the choice to try to get the best starting XI to win every game.
‘We have three games this week and we have quality players and we need to do rotation to try to win every game.’
Bomb squad going with a bang
Buckle up for a busy transfer deadline day at Old Trafford with outgoings set to dominate the agenda before the window closes at 7pm on Monday.
United have completed the bulk of their business by spending more than £200m on Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon. Lammens is expected to follow in a £17m deal, and don’t rule out a defensive midfielder as well.
But United always knew they would have to balance the books and are busy negotiating moves for their remaining four ‘bomb squad’ members after sending Marcus Rashford on loan to Barcelona.
Alejandro Garnacho is set to join Chelsea, Antony is close to making another loan move to Real Betis, Jadon Sancho is attracting interest from his old club Borussia Dortmund as well as Italy and Turkey, while Tyrell Malacia is also set to go.
It appears as though Hojlund is on his way to Napoli, and the arrival of Lammens or a new midfielder could feasibly lead to more departures.
Either way, club sources are predicting a hectic deadline day with some deals likely to go right to the wire.
Vic eyes De Gea reunion
Former United defender Victor Lindelof is in talks with Fiorentina over a move that would see him link up with David de Gea at the Serie A club.
Lindelof left United as a free agent at the end of June after eight years at Old Trafford, and had been expected to rejoin his old club Benfica.
But the 31-year-old Sweden international is discussing a move to Fiorentina who played United earlier this month when goalkeeper De Gea made an emotional return to Old Trafford.
Lindelof has also attracted interest from several English teams and a surprise move back to the Premier League cannot be ruled out. As a free agent, he is not under pressure to make a decision before the transfer deadline.
Amorim predicts corner chaos
Arne Slot questioned whether he had actually seen a football match after Liverpool edged out Newcastle in a dramatic game dominated by set-pieces on Monday night, and Ruben Amorim believes they are becoming more important than ever in the Premier League.
After United conceded the only goal of their opening game to Arsenal at Old Trafford from a corner, goalkeeper Altay Bayindir had another uncomfortable afternoon at Fulham on Sunday when he was under siege from a series of set-pieces.
United scored their goal from a corner when Leny Yoro’s header went in off the back of Rodrigo Muniz, won a penalty from another when Calvin Bassey fouled Mason Mount and almost snatched victory at the end when Harry Maguire headed wide.
Amorim predicted more of the same after he was asked if United’s defenders are doing enough to protect Bayindir. ‘Yes, we are trying everything,’ he replied. ‘I know you are focused a lot on the opponents’ corners, but if you remember this game we had our chances and scored a goal from a set-piece.
‘We had a penalty. We had at least one in the end near the post. You can see every game in the Premier League. Tell me one game that you didn’t see a big occasion from a corner? That will happen in every game.’
Guess who sold out OT
Quiz time. Which visitors to Old Trafford share the record for attracting the biggest-ever crowd to the Theatre of Dreams?
Real Madrid or Barcelona, you think? Possibly Liverpool or Manchester City in an Old Trafford derby?
Wrong. The answer is Grimsby Town, the League Two club from Cleethorpes who face United in the second round of the Carabao Cup at Blundell Park on Wednesday night.
The record attendance at Old Trafford is 76,962, set in March 1939 when the stadium hosted the FA Cup semi-final between Grimsby and Wolves.
The Mariners also reached the old First Division for the only time in their history during that period, but the club’s progress was halted by the Second World War and they were relegated after two seasons in the top-flight when football resumed.
The last of their meetings with United came 77 years ago at Blundell Park in 1948 when the two clubs drew 1-1. Lifelong fan Dr Jon Hall was at that game and spoke to the club website about Wednesday’s tie.
‘I think we will give Manchester United a run for their money,’ said the 96-year-old season-ticket holder. ‘We have a remote chance of winning. We are playing well and the manager has put a good side together and done a good job.’
For the record, the only other cup tie between the two clubs was at Blundell Park in January 1931 when United were knocked out after a 1-0 defeat.
Unknown secret of every Utd boss
You only need to look around United’s revamped Carrington training ground to see the benefits of a £50million upgrade. The complex has been given a total makeover over the last year to take care of all the players’ needs, with Ruben Amorim and his squad moving back into the building in time for the new season.
More observant fans will have noticed that improvements have also been made to the media facilities, with Amorim conducting his pre-match press conferences from behind a smart new desk.
What they probably won’t appreciate is just how wobbly the old one was. The black plinth used to conceal the microphones and reporters’ tape recorders from the cameras when United managers from David Moyes right through to Amorim spoke to the media for more than a decade wasn’t actually attached to the desk itself.
The strip of wood which you could probably pick up for a few quid from B&Q was routinely nudged out of place or knocked off altogether and quickly reinstalled by journalists putting down their tapes in the seconds before a United manager arrived – although, to the best of our knowledge here at Confidential, it never fell off mid-conference which was a minor miracle in itself.
As a symbol of decline at United, it was arguably even more damning than the much-maligned leaky roof at Old Trafford, but one that can only now be revealed.
As such, we believe it is worthy of a place in the club museum, but United insiders reliably inform us that its last known location was a skip. As such, we believe it is worthy of a place in the club museum, but United insiders reliably inform us that it’s destined for the skip.
Piece of cake for Utd stars
Ruben Amorim has gone to great lengths to improve the camaraderie in his squad over the summer, from creating a six-man leadership group (Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Tom Heaton) to naming a five-man ‘bomb squad’ (Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia).
The aim is to generate a better atmosphere around the club and make the players more accountable to each other in terms of performance and discipline.
Amorim has even gone so far as to change the way the club celebrates birthdays for players and staff this season to make it a more of an occasion.
Players have always received a cake, but they are now asked to give a short speech after the rest of the squad and teammates gather around to sing happy birthday.
Matthijs de Ligt was one of the first recipients when he turned 26 earlier this month, and videos showed the Dutchman saying a few words in the new-look canteen at Carrington.
‘Thank you guys, thank you for the happy birthday,’ said De Ligt. ‘I’m really happy to celebrate here. I think we have a really nice atmosphere until now, a really beautiful training complex. I thank everybody for today and hopefully we’re going to have a good season.’
The next one to watch out for is Fernandes who turns 31 on September 8.
Truth is close to home
United fans are used to be taunted over the fact many of them come from outside Manchester, and the old ‘race you back to London’ chant from away teams at Old Trafford.
However, new research shows that Liverpool actually have the most geographically diverse fanbase with supporters living on average 165km from Anfield compared to the typical United follower who is 136km from Old Trafford.
Not surprisingly, however, when it comes to having trust in their club at the moment, United trail their old rivals with 45 per cent of fans keeping the faith compared to 88 per cent satisfaction at Liverpool.
The results of the survey by Stack Data Strategy, which also analysed age and gender of Premier League clubs’ fanbases, can be seen below.