After weeks of negotiations and agreement, Manchester United have finally agreed to sign Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon for a fee of around £68million with an initial fee of £46.6m. Acording to reports, the deal includes add-ons of £8.5m based on the Portguese international’s appearances for United and the club qualifying for the Champions League.
United could also pay Sporting up to £12.7m more depending on the player hitting less attainable targets. Fernandes is expected to sign a five-year contract at Old Trafford but he has yet to agree personal terms.
United and Sporting have been at loggerheads but made a breakthrough in negotiations on Tuesday with just three days of the January transfer window remaining. The 25-year-old midfielder remained in Portugal on Tuesday night and is set to fly to Manchester for a medical on Thursday.
Negotiations broke down between United and Sporting last summer over the valuation, and were in danger of doing so again with Sporting steadfastly sticking to their £67.8m for Fernandes with just three days of the January transfer window remaining.
Meanwhile, a video emerged on social media of Fernandes being interviewed by Portuguese broadcaster SIC of the 25-year-old getting into a car and was asked about his switch to United.
Bruno Fernandes confirming he always wanted a move to the Premier League 🇾🇪 #mufc #BrunoFernandes #TransferNews [SIC] https://t.co/ogpkoXSaRA
— Sauce Utd 🔴🔰🇶🇦 (@ForeverUnited4L) January 29, 2020
Asked if his preferred option was to move to the Premier League, Bruno said: ‘It always was.’
But when asked about United specifically, Bruno said: ‘Anything really.’
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.
The 25-year-old had told Sporting that he wants to move to United this month. The midfielder, who is 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. He has scored 15 goals and provided 14 assists in 27 appearances for Sporting this season across all competitions.
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.
