Bruno Fernandes has already told a Manchester United trio that they must “step up” next season despite transfer rumours linking two of them with exits this summer.
While Manchester United are preparing to play in the Europa League final next Wednesday against Tottenham Hotspur, United fans already have one eye on the summer transfer window and how Rúben Amorim’s side could perform next season.
United have been poor in the Premier League over the last two seasons. They finished 8th last campaign under Erik ten Hag and are set to finish among the bottom five this season, confirming their worst-ever season in the competition.
Although the club have won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in the two seasons before 2024/25, this campaign saw the club knocked out of both in the early rounds, with Amorim looking to avoid the same fate in 2025/26.
While it’s expected that United will bring in a whole host of new faces in order to improve the squad’s attacking abilities, fans will be hoping that the current set of players will also improve.
Fernandes has told three United players to “step up” next season
Bruno Fernandes has been crowned Manchester United’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season for 2024/25 after recording 19 goals and 19 assists in 54 appearances, with three fixtures remaining this campaign.
However, when discussing his impact at United with CBS, the club captain says he hopes that he is not in discussion for said awards next season, and that Amad, Alejandro Garnacho, and Rasmus Højlund will all “step up” and improve.
“The main thing I want… and I was even joking with Josh [Zirkzee] the other day, we were talking about the awards and they were saying like, ‘oh, who’s gonna win the award of Player of the Season?’, they were kind of putting a joke,” Fernandes started.
“And I said that I hope next year I am not even involved in the name – and do the same season as I did this year, and not be involved in the name of winning that trophy.
“Because that will mean you step up, Amad will step up, Garnacho will step up, Rasmus will step up… if they start scoring goals, start doing assists, start running backwards and tackling, they will be the ones having attention and not me, and I will be the most happy person in the world.
“I’m there to help my teammates get the best out of them, and that’s all I want to do because I know as soon as I can get the best out of them, my team will be much better.”
Duo’s future at risk this summer
Despite Fernandes’ hope that Højlund and Garnacho can step up and improve next season, there is no guarantee that they will still be at the club once the 2025/26 campaign kicks off in mid-August.
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As an Academy graduate, Garnacho holds significant financial value to United. With the club’s current finances in tatters, if a bid were to come in in the region of £60-70 million this summer, United would find it hard to reject.
Garnahco is known to be appreciated by both Chelsea and Napoli, with the latter pushing hard to sign him last January but ultimately failing to do so.
Meanwhile, Højlund has multiple admirers in Italy, with Inter Milan, Juventus, and Napoli having all been linked with potential moves for the Danish international this summer.
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