Manchester United fans have been dealt a huge blow as the move for Sporting Lisbon captain Bruno Fernandes has been called off after the Red Devils refused to meet the Portuguese club’s £68million asking price. The Portugal international has scored 15 goals and provided 14 assists in 27 appearances for Sporting this season across all competitions.
According to The Sun, United co-chairman Joel Glazer think that the demands from the club are ‘outrageous and unreasonable’ and has called off the negotiations. According to Glazer, he does not think Fernandes is worth what Sporting are demanding.
The Premier League club had launched a £55m deal for the Portugal midfielder earlier this week but the Sporting insisted on a fee higher than that. Also United had planned to pay £42.5m up-front for the midfielder, with a further £8.5m in performance-based add-ons.
However, the Portuguese giants were unhappy with the structuring of the deal, thereby making negotiations between the two clubs hit an impasse. The club wanted more of the fee in advance, believing that the 25-year-old midfielder would be unlikely to meet the clauses in the deal.
Fernandes began his professional career at Novara in Italy before spells at Udinese and Sampdoria. The midfielder then joined Sporting in 2017 and is now likely to call time on his three-year spell at Sporting in favour of a move to United.
The25-year-old had told Sporting that he wants to move to United this month. The midfielder, who regarded as one of the best talents in the Portuguese league, has gone on to make a total of 81 league appearances and scoring 39 goals for Sporting.
The goalscoring midfielder became United’s primary target this month following recent results and injuries to key players such as Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba. Fernandes was an option for them in the summer but not considered a priority coupled with Sporting’s high valuation.
Fernandes’ agent Jorge Mendes on Wednesday said that he ‘doesn’t know’ if his client will leave the Portuguese giants this month, adding that he is not convinced it would get done during the winter window.
He said: “I don’t know. If he doesn’t leave now, he will leave for sure in the summer because Sporting have already spoken to other clubs.
“Something will happen but I am not sure if now or at the end of the season.”
