Bruno Fernandes is currently away with the Portuguese national team following a very difficult season with Manchester United.
Ruben Amorim’s side ended up in a Europa League all-or-nothing situation, and found themselves with nothing as Tottenham Hotspur won the Bilbao final.
There’ll be no European football for Manchester United next season and the club’s transfer budget will obviously have been impacted. That perhaps partly encouraged the Red Devils to consider selling their captain to Al-Hilal, or at least for the idea to be grow in the media.
However, reports from both Saudi Arabia and the UK talked that down earlier today, with the suggestion some claims had got a bit carried away.
Fernandes has appeared at a Portuguese press conference on Tuesday evening, alongside the country’s national team manager Roberto Martinez, and journalists were obviously primed for big questions.
On his Manchester United struggles, [Record](https://www.record.pt/internacional/competicoes-de-selecoes/liga-das-nacoes/detalhe/conferencia-de-bruno-fernandes-em-direto?ref=HP_Ultimas) quote him as saying: _“Everyone is aware of the season I had at the club. It was difficult, where the objectives were not achieved. And obviously it all ends up looking very negative. Now I’m in a different place, a place that I love, and I’m always happy to represent. I sincerely hope that this can happen, it would be a good sign for me and for the national team, so that we can reach the final.”_
Portugal face Germany on Wednesday in a UEFA Nations League semi-final, but the questions quickly turned to Bruno Fernandes and a potential transfer.
Directly asked about a move to Al-Hilal, he said: _“I will answer and I ask that you don’t ask me any more about it. There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future. As I have always said, I would be willing to do it if Man United thought so. I spoke to coach Ruben Amorim who, throughout that period, he was very pushing for me not to go. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave, that it was not a financial issue._
_“It was a very ambitious proposal. The president was a fantastic person, we never discussed the amount \[initially\]. With my agent of course. Then, I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career. She was someone who always supported me a lot. It was an easy move, even at a family level… I had João Cancelo there, my children are used to playing with him in the national team. We have a great friendship. But I want to maintain myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions, and I feel capable of it.”_
The Manchester United player will hope that honest and lengthy answer will mean he’ll be left in peace for the rest of the international break, with winning the Nations League seen as a big deal in Portugal and increasingly so across Europe.
Manchester United can now also move on from what was a worrying situation for Ruben Amorim and many fans.