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In a major development from the world of football, it is understood that Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who is 30 years of age, turned down three different Saudi clubs, owned by their Public Investment Fund (PIF). The Saudi Pro League clubs who wanted to sign the Portuguese international were namely Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, and Al-Ittihad, but he decided to stay at Manchester United for at least one more season.
As per the report from talkSPORT, at the start of the summer transfer window before the beginning of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, Al-Hilal approached Bruno Fernandes with his agent Miguel Pinho holding meetings for a week in Saudi Arabia with the club officials, who were ready to shell out over £80 million for the player. While the midfielder liked the idea of playing for the Saudi Pro League club, he decided to not go ahead with the move after speaking to his family.
Cristiano Ronaldo informally approached Bruno Fernandes about joining Al-Nassr: Reports
Bruno Fernandes decided to stay at Manchester United especially since it’s the build-up year to the FIFA World Cup in 2026, which could be his last. In late July, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is directly involved in Al-Nassr’s recruitment, informally approached Bruno Fernandes to join him at the club after he himself signed a contract extension with them, but his Portuguese teammate turned him and the club down.
It is revealed that Fernandes directly communicated to Ronaldo about his desire to keep playing club football in Europe during the ongoing 2025-26 season at least. Moreover, just two weeks before summer transfer window shut down in England on September 1, Al-Ittihad approached the Portuguese despite having their foreign quota of players filled up already, and it’s still the case just before the upcoming transfer deadline day of September 10, in Saudi Arabia.
With Bruno Fernandes in such high demand, Manchester United will be tempted to sell him for a big money move, to bolster their midfield ranks, especially if they want to sign their target Carlos Baleba from Brighton for a big money move of their own.
