Manchester United have reportedly increased their offer to sign Bruno Fernandes from Sporting CP this month. For weeks now, speculation has been rife linking the Portuguese midfielder to the Old Trafford club. It has been heavily reported that Sporting want to receive €70 million for the player, which included bonuses. However, United were coming in short of the Portuguese clubs demands.
Sky Sports has reported that a deal is close to being done between the two club after United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward agreed on a fee with Sporting’s director, Hugo Viana. This could see United paying an initial fee of €55 million for Fernandes, 25, with bonuses seeing the final fee possibly rise to around €80 million. The bonuses are said to be spilt with €10 million easily achievable with €15 million tougher to achieve.
Barcelona have also been credited with an interest in Fernandes with them paying more for the player, however, a large proportion of that fee would not be payable until the summer. It would seem that this is the first time during the January transfer window that both United and Sporting are in agreement on the value of the Portuguese midfielder, who so far this season has scored 15 goals and 14 assists in 28 appearances.
Earlier on Tuesday, reports in Spain suggested that Barcelona were seeking to sign Fernandes to a contract until 2025 but he would be loaned immediately to Valencia until the end of the 2020/21 season, meaning he would spend at least 18 months away from the club that took him away from Sporting. Would a player like Fernandes want to do something like that? It seems to be a strange situation, whether it was true or not.
The Sun carry reports suggesting the deal is close to completion with it confirming that United were offering £42.5 million for Fernandes this month with £8.5 million in bonuses. However, the new figure seems to be £46.6 million for the player now with bonuses of £4.2 million based on appearances and a further £4.2 million if United qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
There is a further bonus payment of £12.7 million should Fernandes win the Ballon d’Or and help guide United to Champions League glory. It is said that Fernandes will sign a four-and-a-half year contract at United with the usual option for a further year to be added. Neil Custis suggests that United have been following the development of Fernandes since he was 18 and in the past six months, his performances led to them moving for him this month.
United desperately need to strengthen the midfield and should have done it much sooner this month which might have positively affected their results, which have to been the best. If the transfer all goes to plan, as we have been in this predicament before, the Premier League clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on Saturday could mark the players debut for the club. Failing that it could be the visit to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Monday 17 February 2020.
The Mirror report that United have made a breakthrough regarding Fernandes, a player they have been linked to all month. However, they report the deal could be worth a total of £67.8 million. Initially, £46.6 million would be paid with a further £8.5 million in bonuses based on appearances and Champions League qualification, just like The Sun reported. They say the player will be on £130,000 a week at the club.
They even report the £12.7 million bonus based on the player winning the Ballon d’Or or other achievement with The Sun also including lifting the Champions League with the club. United were reluctant to pay Sporting’s valuation on the player and seemingly used their financial constraints to pursue the deal, which could see them not far from completing the deal. It is said that Fernandes could appear at the AON training complex in Carrington on Wednesday for a medical with personal terms a formality.
