Manchester United have been told they must accept a £56 million offer for Bruno Fernandes that has become a real possibility this summer.
Bruno Fernandes has been, without a shadow of a doubt, Manchester United’s best player since Sir Alex Ferguson departed Old Trafford in 2013.
Having played under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag, and now Rúben Amorim, the Portuguese midfielder has been a consistent force of nature despite United’s turbulent struggles, rising to the status of club captain across his six years at the club.
Fernandes has played over 300 games for United since his £47 million move from Sporting CP in January 2020, amassing 102 goals and 92 assists in that process.
However, in his current contract, there is a release clause of just over £56 million that can be activated by any club outside England next summer, provided it’s done early enough.
United urged to let Fernandes leave this summer
Recently, UtdDistrict sat down to speak exclusively with Paul Parker about Fernandes. Despite his integral position within Amorim’s current squad, the former United full-back urged the club to let the player go if any side is willing to pay such a fee.
“No, they should take it,” Parker said when asked if putting the release clause in his contract was a mistake. “What do you mean? How important is he? Well, he’s 31, isn’t he? He’s 31, and you get £56 million for him?!
“You know, if you say you get more, you’re being greedy, you’re just kind of living in a silly world, you’ll take £56 million. Of course, you would for someone who’s 31, 32 by the time he leaves, or whatever. So yeah, you’ll take it.
“Is it because him and Amorim are both from the same place? You know, is it because of that that he’s made him so focal? And at the end of the day, the club’s going to go forward.
“You can’t go forward that way. You need to shift it somewhere else and build… Build somewhere else, for United to become… or to get close to where they were. You’re never going to get there because football’s never going to allow them to get there.
“Football, from what we remember, we’re not going to get there anymore because the game’s too stop-start now. So it’s never going to flow in that fashion. You’re not going to get what you want with someone like Bruno in the way the game is now, when it’s more athletic.”
United could lose Fernandes’ replacement this summer
There has been plenty of discussion across the last few months about who could replace Fernandes at United, with many pointing toward Academy star Kobbie Mainoo as the natural heir to his deeper position under Amorim.
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However, amid the 20-year-old’s lack of game time and no Premier League starts this season, the Englishman is looking for a way out of Old Trafford to secure game time in January.
Amorim has previously stated that he sees Mainoo competing with Fernandes for the No. 8 position, but with the latter being so integral to the side’s output, Mainoo cannot get a single start in England’s top flight.
There have been whispers that the young midfielder’s relationship with Amorim is not in a healthy place due to his lack of minutes in Red. Despite his evident love for United, it could become broken beyond repair in the coming months if nothing changes.
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