The MUFC captain's future hangs in the balance with reports suggesting that the decision all comes down to him. Despite his importance to the team and Ruben Amorim appearing desperate to hold onto his fellow Portuguese, it does look like it is the player himself who has the final say on whether he stays or departs Old Trafford.
Al-Hilal are so hard for Bruno that they are apparently willing to offer whatever United want in trying to secure the magnifico's signature. The amount being reported has been between the region of £80m-£120m with some even suggesting that there is also a sort of 'blank cheque' for United with £150m potentially on the cards.
Due to such a large amount, there are quite a few (I would say almost half the fan base) who want this deal to be done and for the once unselleble Bruno Fernandes to be sold.
Abu Latifa is a Saudi football fan who covers Al-Hilal closely and he is the one who says that Bruno "is making the deal for Al-Hilal more complicated than anticipated because he keeps on making changes to his contractual demands" via UtdXclusive.
The official account of the Al-Riyadh newspaper is saying that "Bruno Fernandes wants a three-year contract with Al-Hilal worth £25m per season plus £5-7m in add-ons."
Al-Hilal’s current offer is a four-year deal worth £21m a season" (via UnitedsUpdate) which is maybe the cause for this lack of a decision on the United captain's future.
I don't like this indeciveness from Bruno and his camp if all of this can be believed (which I'm sure it can). Make a decision and move on. If he is staying, he should just come out and say so and we can put this matter to bed.
If he's leaving, let that be known too so we know how to proceed.
I get that we have to back the manager but considering the money we could get for a player that is hit and miss a little too regularly, we shouldn't be thinking twice about it. We need the money and we can do so much with it.
Look at PSG for example. They had on paper, one of the greatest front threes in this past generation with Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Intimidating of course but they looked more a team of individuals who tried to outdo each other every chance they could get. They all wanted to be 'the man.'
Over the years, each of that front three have been moved on, they've brought in good money for them/saved on wages, signed good players, promoted some youngsters and look what's happened.
That type of money could do wonders for Amorim's rebuild even if he can't see it at the moment. This is where the club should come in and make the decision for Bruno if he keeps dawdling. He himself said that if the club want him to go for financial reasons, he'll go. Bruno's quote after the Europa League final:
“If the club thinks it’s time to part ways because they want to do some cash in or whatever, it is what it is… and football sometimes is like this.”
However, knowing how wasteful our club can be when it comes to signing players and overspending on them, it does make you second guess whether this is a good idea or not. I don't trust the club to do what is necessary with that sort of money. Hell, I don't know if all of that will even go to the club or if the owners will take some for themselves. Then there's no point in selling Bruno.
The board have to convince Amorim that if he goes, this is what we can do with that money so as to make the manager believe that letting his influential skipper depart is the right call as at the moment, the manager isn't budging.
Al-Hilal have also set deadlines for Bruno's decision but nothing has been decided. The Saudis are probably quite frustrated.
What do you make of the skipper's indecisiveness? And how do you think this will end? Bruno staying or not?
Bruno Fernandes is seeking contractul demands over potential move to Al-Hilal | Bruno Fernandes: Image credit: Getty Images via Goal