{"id":351931,"date":"2025-12-16T15:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/351931\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T15:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:04:08","slug":"they-wanted-me-to-leave-fernandes-hits-out-at-manchester-united-directors-manchester-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/351931\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They wanted me to leave\u2019: Fernandes hits out at Manchester United directors | Manchester United"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bruno Fernandes has claimed Manchester United<\/a> directors \u201churt\u201d him by wanting to sell him and has criticised teammates \u201cwho don\u2019t value the club\u201d as he does.<\/p>\n

Fernandes has been the subject of transfer interest over the past two summers. In the more recent window Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian club, offered United \u00a3100m<\/a> and the player a \u00a3700,000-a-week salary.<\/p>\n

Fernandes did not name specific members of United\u2019s hierarchy. Jason Wilcox is the football director, Omar Berrada is the chief executive and Sir Jim Ratcliffe leads football policy.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Canal 11, a Portuguese Football Federation subscription channel, Fernandes was asked whether there had been an offer from Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid. He appeared to reference more than one transfer window in his reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, the issue of loyalty is no longer seen the way it used to be,\u201d he said. \u201cI could have left in the last transfer window and would have earned a lot more money. Financially, it would have been much better for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one point I was going to leave \u2013 I won\u2019t say where \u2013 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\u2019s side, I felt a bit of: \u2018If you go, it\u2019s not really that bad for us.\u2019 That hurts me a little. More than hurting, it makes me sad, because I\u2019m a player they have nothing to criticise me for. I\u2019m always available for every match, I always play, whether well or badly. I give my maximum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you look around you and see players who don\u2019t value the club as much as you do and who don\u2019t defend the club as much. That makes you sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is understood United\u2019s stance is that the hierarchy were clear last summer that Fernandes was a fundamental component of team plans. A year earlier his transfer fee would have been significantly lower before, in mid-August 2024, he signed a new contract to 2027 with an option for a further year.<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes looks dejected after the 4-4 draw with Bournemouth. Photograph: Peter Powell\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club went through difficult times, and I could have done what many people do and said: \u2018I want to leave the club, I don\u2019t want to train, I just want to leave for 20 or 30 million, so they pay me more on the other side,\u2019\u201d Fernandes said. \u201cAnd maybe I would have gone to a better club or earned more money. But I never did that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never felt in a position to do so, because I felt the empathy and affection I had for the club were mutual. I think that empathy can exist, but there comes a point where money is more important than you. The club wanted me to leave \u2013 I have that in my head. I told the directors that but I think they didn\u2019t have the courage to make that decision because the manager wanted me to stay. If I had said I wanted to leave, even with the manager wanting me to stay, they would have let me go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old did not rule out a move to Saudi Arabia. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the money,\u201d he said. \u201cFinancially, I can\u2019t complain \u2013 I\u2019m paid very well. Obviously the difference is enormous but that was never what guided me \u2013 if one day I have to play in Saudi Arabia, I will play in Saudi Arabia. My lifestyle will change, my children\u2019s lives will have sun, after six years in Manchester with cold and rain. I\u2019ll be playing in a growing league, with players who are internationally recognised.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is understood United have no desire to sell Fernandes and that he continues to be central to the long-term planning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruno Fernandes has claimed Manchester United directors \u201churt\u201d him by wanting to sell him and has criticised teammates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-351931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}