Club captain say directors tried to push him out in the summer amid interest from Saudi Arabia
Bruno Fernandes has accused Manchester United of not valuing loyalty after club directors wanted him to leave last summer when Al-Hilal made a lucrative move for him. Fernandes said it left him “sad” and disappointed.
United’s captain was the subject of strong interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in the summer, with the club willing to pay around £100m and offer the midfielder a contract worth up to £700,000 a week.
Fernandes ultimately stayed after discussions with head coach Ruben Amorim, who insisted he needed the midfielder.
“Nowadays, the issue of loyalty is no longer seen the way it used to be,” Fernandes said in an interview with Canal 11. “I could have left in the last transfer window. I would have earned much more money. Financially, it would have been much better for me.
“At one point I was going to leave – I won’t say where – but I would have won many trophies that season. I decided to stay not only for family reasons, but because I genuinely like the club. The conversation with the coach also made me stay.
“But from the club I felt it was, ‘If you go it’s not so bad for us’. It hurts me a bit. More than hurting me, it makes me sad because I’m a player they have nothing to criticise me for. I’m always available for every match, I always play, whether well or badly. I give my maximum.”
Fernandes said football was now majorly about money and the club were willing to choose that over a player who loved the club, was loyal and was still performing at his peak, until Amorim played a decisive role in his staying at Old Trafford.
“The passion and empathy for the club were the same, but it reaches a point where money is more important to them than you,” said Fernandes. “The club wanted me to leave, but I think the directors didn’t have the courage to make that decision because the manager wanted me.
“But if I said I wanted to leave, even with the manager wanting me to stay, the club would let me.”
It is unclear who Fernandes meant when he said directors, but senior figures at the club include chief executive Omar Berrada, football director Jason Wilcox and Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who oversees the club’s football operations.
Fernandes is not just United’s most productive player but has also been one of the leading creators in the Premier League since he arrived in 2020.
“The club went through difficult times, and I could have done what many people do and said: ‘I want to leave the club, I don’t want to train, I just want to leave for 20 or 30 million, so they pay me more on the other side,’” Fernandes said. “And maybe I would have gone to a better club or earned more money. But I never did that.”
The player also reserved a few words for players he felt had not been loyal to the club or played for the badge.
“You look around you and see players who don’t value the club as much as you do and who don’t defend the club as much,” Fernandes said. “That makes you sad.”
