Fernandes has told his representatives to explore the market, according to TeamTalk, which on Thursday also described the chance of a January departure as “not entirely impossible”. It is the clearest signal yet that the 32-year-old attacking midfielder is open to leaving Old Trafford before the end of the season, after months in which his own stated preference was to stay and sign a long-term deal.
The reason pundits have turned on INEOS is the summer United passed up.
“I said in the summer that Manchester United should have sold Bruno Fernandes for £100m, and everyone booed me off!” talkSPORT’s Dean Saunders said in comments carried by TeamTalk.
Saunders went further on Fernandes’ recent form, questioning his workrate even during encouraging patches.
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“I think Bruno’s behaviour changed a bit against Chelsea on Saturday, he seemed to be encouraging players a bit more, but his actual sprinting and getting around the pitch didn’t.”
The Como fallout
The relationship between player and head coach Michael Carrick has been fraying in public. After a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como in late October, Fernandes questioned the set-up to TNT Sports, telling the broadcaster the tactical choices were “on the manager and on the staff to see it, it’s not on me”.
He was then dropped from the starting XI for the 0-3 home defeat to Bournemouth that followed, the first time in close to five years he had been left out of a United Premier League line-up.
Fernandes has since told Amazon Prime there has been “a lot of lies” around his relationship with Carrick, the Portuguese adding that the bench call was about his own performances, not a punishment for his comments.
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Carrick is himself under acute pressure after a nine-match winless run, held in post only until the November international break while the board weigh up Julian Nagelsmann, Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte.
The suitors, and the one who may already be out
Football365, citing Caught Offside’s September reporting, put INEOS’ sell-on price at €50-60m, well short of the summer valuation, and listed Atlético Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Galatasaray among the European clubs tracking the situation. Galatasaray had a summer bid rejected.
Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb, quoted by TeamTalk earlier this week, reported Al-Hilal were preparing a €55m offer, around £46m, for a January move.
That picture has shifted in the days since. talkSPORT has since reported Al-Hilal will not return for Fernandes in January because the club have no plans to free up one of their overseas-player slots. If that holds, the Saudi route is already closed.
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The lever INEOS still hold
Fernandes’ current contract expires at the end of the season. United hold a one-year option that would push the deal to 2028, while his camp has been pushing for a longer new agreement that would keep him at Old Trafford beyond that.
The stand-off leaves INEOS with three uncomfortable options: sell in January for a fraction of the summer’s valuation, trigger the option and risk a cut-price departure next summer, or match the long-term terms his side want. Fernandes has 112 goals and 110 assists in 340 appearances for United since joining from Sporting CP in January 2020, and the January window opens on 1 January.
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