This summer has been one of the worst for speculation. Bruno Fernandes has been linked to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur for the last six weeks or so with suggestions in the Portuguese media making out that United were the front runners for the player’s signature this summer. Over the last week or so, Spurs had been that front-running team.

As the transfer window for Premier League team closes at 5 pm today, there is a massive chance that the 24-year-old will not get the transfer that he ‘reportedly’ desires. Apparently, Spurs put in a final bid for the player, which was rejected. Sporting seems to want €70 million to let the player leave this summer, a figure that is unlikely to get at all.

In Portugal the media don’t seem as confident as they once were; perhaps down to the fact that this all seems to have been clickbait. Record suggest that Sporting president Frederico Varandas ‘resists until the end’ whilst O Jogo report that the player is at a ‘dead–end’. A Bola suggests that today is ‘D-Day’ and Correio da Manhã suggesting that ‘only Jorge Mendes can sell Bruno’.

Correio da Manhã and O Jogo both suggest that Spurs’ last offer for Fernandes was €45 million with €25 million in add ons, which obviously adds up to €70 million, the figure Sporting wanted this summer, however, it is clear that they wanted all the money upfront. Perhaps after a summer of intense speculation and only one club actually making an offer should suggest that the player was not as popular as the speculation.

Correio da Manhã has suggested that Mendes is still in Manchester with an aim to ‘unblock the transfer’. Both Mendes and Fernandes’ agent, Miguel Pinho has been working together to ‘accelerate’ and ‘convince’ United to make a bid for the 24-year-old, a player who the supporters of the club have now started to demand with a hashtag on Twitter.

It is also suggested that Spurs are now no longer interested in Fernandes, instead, finding an agreement to sign Giovanni Lo Celso from Real Betis, with the player reportedly in London to undergo a medical and complete his transfer before the deadline later today. Perhaps Spurs entering the race for Fernandes was just to secure Lo Celso this summer?

With the Premier League transfer window a matter of hours from closing, it is suggested that Real Madrid could sign Fernandes this summer, possibly even clubs from Italy could be interested in making a move for the 24-year-old. However, I would doubt that a €70 million fee is something Sporting would get for the player this summer though.

I guess it has been a summer of speculation for United supporters and a summer which has set the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of who to trust with transfer news. Of course, the Twitter ITKs, who have been suggesting that Fernandes to United was a done deal months ago, started to find their excuses for the deal not materialising.

People are even having a go at Gianluca Di Marzio, who tweeted a rumour from CalcioMercato which suggested Fernandes was ‘hours away’ from a transfer to United. This obviously came from the Portuguese media with the Italian media carrying the reports also. I guess United supporters were convinced of this deal and now they need someone to blame.

If so, point your fingers in the direction of A Bola, O Jogo, Record and Correio da Manhã first of all, then to Miguel Pinho and Frederico Varandas, who have both been posturing the (no) deal this summer. I guess that people still believe the media when in fact, for a number of years, reliability seems to be blocked by the want of money over being informative.