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Analysis
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Bruno Fernandes opens up over 'tough' €120m Man Utd transfer
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 14 Aug 2025 15:44 BST
- 4 min read
News
Bruno Fernandes has opened up about his failed move to Al-Hilal this summer and insisted that he only wanted to continue his career at Manchester United despite the lucrative offer from the Saudi Pro League.
Al-Hilal made an approach to sign Fernandes early in the summer, with the Saudi Arabian outfit having been willing to offer as much as €120 million to sign United’s captain.
However, Fernandes did not push for the move, instead leaving the decision to United, who opted against cashing in on the 30-year-old in a decision which the player described as ‘tough’.
“I know numbers matter the most in football,” Fernandes told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Obviously it was a big number that the club could get for me. So I know how tough it was for the club.
“When I spoke with the president of Al-Hilal, I spoke with him once and I told him, ‘I’ve never thought about leaving, I appreciate your call. Whatever you want to do or not, you can talk with the club,’ because I’ve always said if the club wanted to sell me, then yes, I had to make a decision. But if the club doesn’t, I don’t have to make a decision, because my aim is to stay here.
“It’s a lot of money for me, too, but it is what it is. People make decisions in their lives. I won’t regret it because this is the place I want to be and this is the place where I want to be successful also.”
Fernandes: Amorim was right to say this was the ‘worst United team in history’
United had considered the big money departure in order to bolster their transfer resources, however the club have still managed to spend €230m this summer despite having yet to raise any funds through permanent sales.
The massive outlay came in light of Ruben Amorim’s comments that this was United’s worst team in their history and Fernandes defended his manager’s comments, even stating his agreement about the assessment.
“He wasn’t wrong,” Fernandes said. “It was our worst season. So what we can do? [Say] that he was wrong and be upset or whatever? No, he’s right. It was our worst season. We had a very bad season. Everyone is aware of that.
“No one was happy with it,” Fernandes added. “Sometimes life is tough. You have to deal with it. If you want to play for the biggest club in the world, you have to deal with a lot of things.”
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