After a disastrous 2024/25 campaign, Manchester United will look to bounce back, and after rejecting a move to Saudi Arabia, captain Bruno Fernandes will have a big role to play
After acting fast at the start of the window, signing Matheus Cunha for £62.5 million, Manchester United currently find themselves in a worrying situation as they look to rebuild their squad going into next season.
With Ruben Amorim returning to Carrington on Friday, he will be looking to right the wrongs from last season ahead of a crucial Premier League season for the club’s future.
Despite initially wishing for his want-away players such as Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Antony to be gone by the time pre-season training kicks off on the 7th of July, not one of them have been moved on as of yet, and with only one two new names through the door in Cunha and Diego León, it’s far from ideal.
The one thing he can be positive of, though, is that United captain, Bruno Fernandes, is still at the club, with the 30-year-old rejecting a staggering £700,000 per week contract from Al-Hilal to remain at Old Trafford.
Juan Mata on Fernandes’ influence
Juan Mata signed for United in 2014, enjoying an eight-year tenure at the club, before joining Galatasaray.
After sharing the pitch for a season and a half, Fernandes inherited Mata’s number 8 following his departure, and the Spaniard is optimistic about what lies ahead for his former teammate and the club, with the pair sharing a great friendship, with Mata saying he’s tried to help the current captain overcome last term’s disappointment.
Speaking to United’s club media, he said: “I love Bruno. We speak a lot and, you know, I’m trying to always be there for him. When you are winning and everything is going well, it is easy to be surrounding him. When things are not going well, is where I try to be there for him.
“So, I really hope that, next season, he scores 40 goals and he gets 40 assists, and is the MVP [most valuable player] of the league! And he can, you know, keep doing what he’s doing because I think he’s instrumental for the present and for the future of the club.”
Mata insists that Amorim is the right man for the job
Ahead of his first full season as the head coach at United, Amorim is under immense pressure to deliver, with Mata demanding a vast improvement in next season’s Premier League
“Well, first of all, I hope that everyone can play good and everyone can bring the club to what I believe it deserves to be,” Mata continued.
“Of course, it has been in a tough season and everyone was really excited about the [Europa League] final, which I watched from Australia, with the time difference. And I was as sad as everyone with the final result.
“But I think and I really hope that next season is going to be better,” he declared, showing his affection for the club he served between 2014 and 2022. “I think the team is good. I think the coach has just barely arrived and I wish him the best.
“He is young, he has intensity and passion, and I hope he will do very, very well.”
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