Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes could leave the club this summer
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes will more likely than not decide his future this week and his decision could not be more crucial.
For Fernandes, the opportunity to set his family up for generations will be tempting. However, he chooses to leave for the Saudi Pro League he is potentially kissing his hopes of ever winning some of the world's top honours goodbye.
Jordan Henderson managed to escape back to Europe but you feel Fernandes will be set for good in the Middle East. It cannot be underestimated the size of this decision for the United captain but it pales in comparison to how important it is to his current club.
United are entering this summer off the back of their worst ever Premier League season. The team looks more fractured than ever before and Ruben Amorim is all-but-guaranteed to start the 'open heart surgery' that Ralf Rangnick diagnosed.
With all that chaos going on, the club are now considering selling Fernandes for £100 million. This is not because he is trying to force a move either, he has always insisted he will stay while United will have him, this is purely because the offer is so lucrative.
What is clear is that Fernandes is worth more to his club than £100m. He was United's biggest goal threat and creative spark this season.
Take him away and this team is relegation fodder. Do United get another player who can do all that with £50m, £100m, £200m?
Ultimately, his output for this club is priceless. He is the one part of this team that works, consistently, and United are tempted to let him go fund a wider rebuild.
That is a huge gamble after the season United have just had and would ramp the pressure up on Amorim significantly. How does this team achieve anything in 2025/26 when their talisman is gone?
It is a struggle to see how he is replaceable for a club who are not playing in the Champions League and have been on a downward trajectory for over a decade.
For United fans' sakes, let's hope the powers that be are well aware of the potential consequences of selling Fernandes and that Amorim knows the plan otherwise things could get even worse.
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