Fernandes in angry farewell as Sporting drop Man Utd transfer hint

Bruno Fernandes’ apparent last match as a Sporting Lisbon player did not go according to plan as he failed to wave to supporters and then lashed out at a camera man as his side were beaten by Braga.

United have been locked in talks over a deal for Fernandes for around a week and reports on Tuesday claimed that common ground had finally been reached and that a deal to confirm his transfer to Old Trafford would soon be announced.

As reported by Plataforma, [via the Daily Mail] United were only willing to pay £42.5m up front for Fernandes – but have since returned with an improved offer and it’s reported an agreement has finally been reached.


As per the article, the agreement was on the brink of collapse, but it’s now claimed United and Sporting have reached a compromise, whereby United will pay Sporting £46.9million (€55m) plus bonuses. No players will move from United to Lisbon as initially made part of the discussions.

However, Fernandes played in what was expected to be his final match for Sporting on Tuesday evening – a fiery 2-1 defeat to Braga – with the match marred by a staggering four red cards.

Yannick Bolasie, Jeremy Mathieu and Eduardo Henrique were all given their marching orders for Sporting, while Eduardo Carvalho also saw red card for Braga.

And after the match, a frustrated Fernandes was keen to get off the pitch fast and failed to acknowledge the Sporting supporters in what the Portuguese press have widely described as “his last match for the club”.

Furthermore, Fernandes walked past a cameraman on his way to the dressing rooms and decided to lash out, pushing the lens away from him as he stormed past.

The unsavoury goodbye, however, will not have gone down well with supporters, who have idolised a player who has 64 goals in his 136 matches for the club from midfield.

 

And Sporting’s social media team have dropped a further hint that an announcement is imminent for the player after they removed a long-standing image of him from their page after the game.

The Primiera Liga giants have now removed their captain from their banner and replaced him with a picture of Sebastian Coates, Wendel and Luis Phellype, with the sudden alteration accelerating many people’s belief that a transfer to United will soon be announced.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave little indication about whether a deal would soon be announced when questioned in his press briefing ahead of Wednesday’s match against Burnley at Old Trafford.

“We’re always looking to improve the squad and the club but now is not the time for that discussion,” was all he say.

Paul Merson, meanwhile, has delivered United a chastening message about their pursuit for Fernandes and believes the Red Devils of old would have tied up a deal for the player weeks ago.

“For me, this didn’t happen when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge,” Merson said on Sky Sports’ The Debate.

“If they wanted a player, they went and got that player and it was done.

“This is the problem you have now at Manchester United, even for me they’re the greatest club in the world. They’re not that high anymore.

 

“Look at Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Man City, and they have to fight for a player now. They may have to pay over the top.

“Before they might say ‘right, I want to pay £30million for a player’ and the player would kick up a fuss because he wanted to go to Manchester United. That’s not the case anymore.”

Our readers meanwhile have had their say on two of United’s summer recruits, with some interesting thoughts on Dan James’ involvement with the first team and of the performances of new captain Harry Maguire.