Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is set to reach the 300-game milestone in his Red Devils career and spoke to Camel Live in an interview.
"As I’ve always said, I feel good here and still want to fulfill my dreams. I can’t speak for the club. Many say I’ve reached an agreement with other clubs for next season, but if such an agreement exists, it wasn’t with me—I haven’t talked to anyone. My agent knows how I work; if he wants to talk to me, it will be after the World Cup. Until then, I won’t speak to anyone."
It’s reported that Al Hilal offered over £100 million for Bruno Fernandes this summer, but Erik ten Hag was unwilling to let him go.
"He said to me: ‘No, we do need to sign more players to help you and make the team better. But if we sign others but lose you, it’s still a loss.’ My family feels great here. The kids love school and the lifestyle here, even with the bad weather. We’re all settled; sometimes we even feel this house is more like ‘home’ than our place in Portugal. My wife Ana asked me: ‘Have you achieved all your goals at the club?’ She knows I haven’t. When I say I haven’t fulfilled my dreams at the club, it’s largely because of her words."
Manchester United secured their first win over Liverpool since 2016 in the last league round. Within 24 hours of the match, Fernandes trained in the rain at Carrington Training Ground and stayed to watch his teammates after finishing, showing the captain’s dedication and responsibility to the team.
"Of course I want people to speak well of me—I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care. But I want team achievements more; that’s what I’ve been missing at United. I haven’t brought the club the success it wants, nor achieved everything I imagined when I signed. Individual performances do earn me recognition, but that’s not where I want to end up. I want to win trophies, to be remembered for what I contributed to the club, not just my individual stats."
Manchester United’s transfer strategy has faced much criticism in recent years, with big signings like Antony, André Onana, and Jadon Sancho failing to live up to expectations. Fernandes believes that excellent individual ability alone isn’t enough to be a qualified Manchester United player.
"At this club, we need to sign players with strong personalities. Good skills are sometimes not enough because the pressure and attention here are enormous. We signed some players this summer who understand the club’s size. Matheus Cunha has that confidence—he’ll say ‘give me the ball, I want to play, to create chances’. That’s the Cunha we need; we want him to take risks, shoot, dribble, create. The same with Bryan—sometimes I get angry with him in training because he holds the ball too long. I say, ‘Bryan, you don’t need to. You can shoot first time. You did it against us at Brentford! Now you have to do it for us. You’re still the same player, just in a different shirt.’"
There’s much talk about Fernandes’ competition with English youngster Kobbie Mainoo.
"Modern football first requires running. When I started, some teammates running 6-7 km were top; now if you can’t run 9-10 km, you’re behind. I want to compete for the same position with the best, but I don’t see Kobbie as a competitor—he just does what I can do in a different way. Statistically, maybe I’m better at scoring, Kobbie better at dribbling. We’re different types but both add value. He’s fully capable of playing at the highest level; he pushes me to get better."
