Bruno Fernandes could have left Manchester United last summer amid interest from Saudi Arabia but the club captain opted to stay
Bruno Fernandes could have left Man United last summer(Image: BBC Sport)
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed his wife convinced him to stay at Old Trafford last summer. The Manchester Evening News understands that Fernandes seriously considered a move to Al-Hilal.
His agent, Miguel Pinho, was in talks with the Middle Eastern club over a possible £100million transfer, and the Reds did not rule out his sale. But the Portugal international opted against a move after discussions with his family.
Fernandes has gone on to enjoy the best season of his career at United. The 31-year-old has recorded 18 assists in the Premier League so far in 2025/26 and is just two away from matching the all-time record in a single campaign set by Kevin de Bruyne and Thierry Henry.
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Now, the midfielder has opened up to the Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport about how a simple message from his wife made him decide to stay at M16 last summer.
He said: I stayed because I thought I still had something that I can give back to the club,” said Fernandes.
“Obviously the Saudi situation, with the money… there was a lot. The good thing I have in my family is that my wife is pretty down to earth like me.
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“We’re very aware that we don’t want to be the richest person in the world. We just want to be the ones that have achieved the dreams they had and live a good life with their kids and trying to be as successful as possible.
“The words of my wife were like, ‘have you achieved your dreams? Have you achieved everything you wanted?’
“And that small thing she said made me understand that she’s on the same page as me. Let’s keep trying and see where this takes me.”
Fernandes’ impressive season has put him in the conversation to become the first United player since Rooney in 2010 to win the players’ and writers’ player of the year award.
The former Sporting star said: “It’s a huge privilege to be in the conversation.
“You can say as many times as you want that you want to win trophies collectively. That is true. But these individual accolades are always nice on the personal side.
“It is players voting for you. That has a different impact because you have been playing against them.
“If they recognise you as one of the best in the league, it’s a huge privilege.”
