Fee B revealed why he rejected the Saudi offer: I still have unfinished work at Manchester United

Bruno Fernandez sat under the ceiling lights of the renovated main building at Carrington Training Base, soaking up the sunshine. "My family feels good here, my children like life here, it doesn't matter even if the weather is bad," he smiled and looked up at the sky, "Everything is fine today."

If the situation is different this summer, Fernandez may consider joining a Saudi Arabian team. Riyadh Crescent offered him an olive branch, and Fernandez seriously considered it. At Manchester United, he spoke with Ruben Amorim, Omar Berada (Manchester United CEO) and Jason Wilcox (Manchester United Director of Football). At home, he attaches great importance to the opinion of his wife Anna. "The first thing she asked me was: 'Have you achieved everything you wanted to achieve here?' She knew I hadn't."

Fernandez also chatted with Cristiano Ronaldo. "I talked to him about the current situation, everything about Saudi Arabia," Fernandez said. "I won't reveal what he told me, but we did talk. Cristiano had his own opinion on what I should do. With his wealth of experience, it was important for me to hear his thoughts. But obviously, the final decision always lies with me and the club."

In this candid interview. During the interview, he also described the following things in detail:

Why he ended up staying at Old Trafford and what his future holds;

His relationship with Sir Jim Ratcliffe;

Why he runs more in games than ever before;

Matteus Cunha is "so arrogant";

Why he wants to get into coaching.

1

First of all, Fernandez, who turned 31 last month, wanted to clarify some reports about his future.

"I've seen a lot of news," he said. "I've seen a lot of people saying that I've reached an agreement with the club and will leave next season. If the club has really reached such an agreement, it's not with me. I haven't talked with anyone."

"I can tell you that people are still contacting me and saying that they very much hope to sign me next year. Of course. , As far as I'm concerned, I won't talk about it. My agent also understands my style of doing things, and if he wants to talk to me, he will have to wait until after the World Cup. I won't talk to anyone before that."

If you wait until Fernandez completes his duties with the Portuguese national team in the United States, then interested clubs may not finalize his decision until mid-July. Just this past summer, he effectively ended speculation about his future when he turned down a lucrative offer from Riyadh Crescent in early June. If he had shown interest, United might have considered an offer, which is where discussions surrounding his future at Old Trafford beyond 2026 have centered.

Fernandez revealed for the first time that he had also had discussions with European clubs.

"After the New Moon in Riyadh, other clubs also contacted me, but my answer obviously will not change," he said. "Other clubs in Saudi Arabia have also contacted me, and some clubs in Europe have talked to me, but we have never been able to reach a formal offer. Everyone is very enthusiastic and wants to sign me, but they must come up with enough funds. Otherwise, the club will not let me go."

"European clubs feel that I have not shown interest in going to play somewhere and they feel that negotiations with me are a waste of time."

"Amorim talked to me and he said that I am still part of the team's plans and he wants me to stay. The club also said the same, if the club said: 'Bruno, we want to cash out, you are 30 years old, we want to make some money,' I would say: 'Okay, I have to find a solution "But obviously that's not the case, I'm still part of the plan and I can help the club achieve our goals and that's why I stayed. "The first time I spoke to Omar Berada, I was already in Malaysia (on the post-season tour with the club) and that's when it all started. I told him: 'Listen, this is the situation before us. I know the club may look at it from one perspective and I will look at it from a different perspective, so I just want to understand from your perspective, what do you want to do. But if you want to go, we're not going to say it's not a good opportunity because it's a huge amount of money. "

"Riyadh Crescent can make an offer of 80 million to 100 million pounds. Afterwards, I talked to the head coach. I said: 'Look, this is the offer I got. I have to think about it because the club might say they want me to go because they want to bring in more players or something like that. ’ But that’s not the case and the club has always told me that they will strengthen the team. "

"The head coach said to me: 'No, we want more players to help you, we want to be a better team, so we don't want to let you go. ’”

“Obviously, I have a deep connection with the fans, the club and the country. My family (he and Anna have two young children, a son and a daughter) are settled. We miss home, but my goal is not to play in Portugal again. "

"However, there is one thing that needs to be explained. If I have the opportunity to return to Portugal, I will always put Sporting CP first. "

"The same goes for Mbemo. ‘Mbemo, shoot quickly! ’ Sometimes I get a little angry with him in training because he always wants one more touch. I would say: ‘Mbemo, you don’t need that. You can shoot the ball with your first touch because you can do it. You did that to us at Brentford! ’”

3

Another player that Fernandes seems to genuinely like is Kobe Menu.

Amorim believes the England squad member has endured a tumultuous few months at Old Trafford and is competing with Fernandes for the holding midfield role.

Realistically, the question is how long Fernandez's career can last, and whether a deeper position can extend his career at an elite level.

"I'm running more now than I ever was," he said. "It's so different from when I first started playing football. My teammates used to be at the top if they ran 6,000-7,000 meters in a race. Now, if you can't run 9,000-10,000 meters, your data will be very bad. "

"I'm lucky that I have the ability to run and handle the demands of coaching, the league and everything. There is competition in the club but I don't see Menu as my rival, I think he is fully capable of doing what I can do in a different way. "

"From the data point of view, my scoring ability is stronger, and Menu's breakthrough ability may be stronger. We all have different styles as players, but we all contribute to the team in different ways. "

"I like this competition and I like playing with Menu. Although he is young, he is more than capable of playing football at a high level and he has made me a better player, which is the kind of competition I want. "

Listening to Fernandez and seeing the deputy responsibilities he assumed under Amorim, it felt like a natural choice for him to engage in coaching after retirement.

"I really like this side of football," he said. "I talk about this topic with Juan Mata all the time. I think he was more inclined towards the athletic director role, but I would have loved to be a coach. I was lucky enough to have teammates who looked after me growing up. My father also always tried to help everyone and so did my mother. "

"One day I may look back and say, 'I was a part of this and I'm glad to see them grow and they're getting to where they want to be. ’”

When asked about his best moment at United, it’s clear how Fernandez feels about the journey. It wasn’t a trophy, it wasn’t a goal, but his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020.

“Because without that win, everything else I achieved wouldn’t have been possible,” he explained. “That win will always be etched in my time at Manchester United. "

Fernandez got off to a strong start and has maintained a high level of performance. "I don't know why I can do it. Some people may encounter a lot of difficulties," he said frankly. "Obviously, this is a wealthy club, and they are involved in the top league in the world. The gap between this league and any other league in the world is very huge, not only in terms of level, but also in the intensity of the competition. "

"I was eager to succeed and wanted to do everything. For me, the first chance is the last chance, so I have to take it. There was nothing in my mind other than success in the Premier League. It's been a dream of mine to play for this club for many years and when the opportunity came I couldn't waste it. "

Fernandez still maintained this optimistic attitude. He ended the interview happily and looked out the sunny window again. He said that he had not been to the beach in England this year, and then corrected: "Oh, no, I have been, in Bournemouth. Every time we played there I would go for a walk with Tom Heaton. ”

This seems to be an apt description of his contradictory character. He plays football with ferocity and delicacy, but even though he is the captain of Manchester United, he also enjoys an occasional stroll by the seaside.