Al-Nassr boss Jorge Jesus has confirmed that he wanted to sign Manchester United superstar Bruno Fernandes this summer.
The Portugal international snubbed an official approach from Al-Hilal earlier this summer, but Jesus has now revealed that Fernandes was also wanted by fellow Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr before they finalised a deal for Chelsea attacker Joao Felix.
“We already talked last year. This year I knew I had made the decision to continue with Amorim.”
Al-Hilal reportedly offered Fernandes the chance to earn €230 million across a three-year contract, while Man Utd were set to receive a €120m transfer fee if he completed a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, he turned down the chance to secure an extremely lucrative contract in the Middle East in favour of remaining at Man Utd.
Fernandes, who registered 38 goal contributions in 57 appearances last season, has x years remaining on his current contract at Old Trafford and he is expected to play a key role under Ruben Amorim this campaign.
Bruno Fernandes issues transfer message
Although Fernandes chose to stay at Man Utd this year, he believes the squad at Old Trafford still isn’t good enough and issued a direct transfer demand following their 2-2 draw against Everton last Sunday.
“I don’t want to have a dig at anyone, but I think the club is doing the best they can in terms of all the financial situations they talk about,” he told reporters. “I don’t know about it, I’m not involved in that. But obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here.
“We needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more and to have more to do to get into the starting line-up. I think that’s what the club and the manager are trying to do and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.”
It appears as though Man Utd have already heeded Fernandes’ advice very carefully as they subsequently launched a successful bid for Benjamin Sesko and he is set to be officially announced as their fourth summer signing on Saturday.
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