In a candid interview with Canal 11, a media outlet owned by the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernandes said he was "hurt" by Manchester United's readiness to offload him during the summer. At the end of last season, Saudi Pro League team Al Hilal were prepared to pay a £100 million transfer fee and wages approaching £750,000 a week to take him to Riyadh.
United, as reported by ESPN at the time, left the decision with Fernandes. The club had failed to qualify for European competition, having lost the Europa League final against Tottenham and finished 15th in the Premier League. Finances were consequently impacted, so even Fernandes was available for the right fee.
Nobody can be certain that United would now be a better team without Fernandes, using the transfer fee to bolster Ruben Amorim's squad in key areas, or that his departure would have been a blow that would set the side even further back. But the club's pragmatic long-term business decision to listen to offers for the former Sporting CP player is instead viewed by Fernandes as a rejection of everything he has done for the club.
"From the club I felt it was, 'If you go, it's not so bad for us.' It hurts me a bit," Fernandes told Canal 11. "More than hurting me, it makes me sad.
"The club wanted me to leave -- I have that in my head. I told the directors that, but I think they didn't 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."
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Fernandes' comments bear similarities to Salah's earlier this month in which he claimed to have been "thrown under the bus" by the club and that he had "earned the right" to play, despite being dropped by manager Arne Slot. Neither Salah nor Fernandes considered the bigger picture when speaking of their own situation. Salah had been dropped because his form had deteriorated to the point that Slot had to take him out of the team. United were ready to offload Fernandes because the team -- for which he has long been a central figure -- had just recorded its worst Premier League finish, and parting with the captain offered a quick fix to their financial problems.
Fernandes is United's best player and continues to perform at the highest level for the team -- a point highlighted by his stunning free-kick goal in Monday's 4-4 Premier League draw against Bournemouth. But the 31-year-old might need a history lesson when it comes to the ability of clubs to move on, and often prosper, when they part company with their biggest stars. At United alone, much more significant and successful players than Fernandes, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eric Cantona have left the club and been succeeded by replacements who have helped deliver Premier League and Champions League titles.
Had Fernandes left Old Trafford this summer, his departure would unquestionably have left a huge hole in the team. He has scored 103 goals and registered 93 assists in 307 appearances since arriving from Sporting in January 2020. Had he played for a more stable and successful team during that period, he would likely have won the major honors that his performances have deserved.
But while he continues to be the first name on Amorim's team sheet, Fernandes is not irreplaceable, and his departure could have been the backward step that ultimately allowed United to take two steps forward.
It is hypothetical, of course, but with an additional £100 million to spend this summer, United could have signed one or two of the central midfielders they are hoping to recruit next summer -- Brighton's Carlos Baleba and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton perhaps, or maybe Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson. With two of those in Amorim's squad, and either Matheus Cunha or Mason Mount deployed in the No. 10 role favored by Fernandes, it is arguable that the team would be a stronger one than it is right now with Fernandes in it.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim discusses his side's 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.
As it stands, Fernandes is being used out of position alongside Casemiro as a deep-lying midfielder, but one who roams forward and leaves gaps in the center of the team, so United are left with their best player being played out of position due to the failure to sign the midfielders that his transfer fee would have enabled them to pursue. A more ruthless decision by United CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox would have been to take the decision out of Fernandes' hands and accept the offer from Al Hilal, then reinvest the fee in the likes of Baleba, Wharton or Anderson.
Eight years ago, Liverpool were faced with a similar dilemma when Barcelona submitted a £146 million offer for Philippe Coutinho, the team's best player. Unlike United, the Anfield hierarchy chose to do the deal. Liverpool reinvested the windfall in Virgil van Dijk (£75 million from Southampton) and Alisson Becker (£68 million from Roma) -- two transformative signings that helped turn Jurgen Klopp's team into Premier League and Champions League winners.
It would depend on the transfer expertise of Wilcox and his United recruitment team for a similarly successful reinvestment of funds at Old Trafford, but Fernandes denied them that opportunity by choosing to stay at the club. Many fans will thank him for that decision, and United do have an outstanding player because of it. But rather than being hurt by the thought of being let go, perhaps Fernandes should think of the bigger picture and just why the club was prepared to wave him off to Saudi Arabia.
