WHAT HAPPENED?
This summer, Mbappe became a free agent and left PSG to fulfill his lifelong ambition of playing for Real Madrid. Les Parisiens are now hoping to make up for the firepower deficit by enticing Fernandes to Parc des Princes this summer, according to L’Equipe.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Since moving from Sporting to Manchester United in the winter of 2020, Fernandes has been a vital member of the team. Despite the Red Devils’ struggles over the past several years, he has put up some incredible stats and has apparently been considering leaving the team. He has therefore been connected to teams like Al-Nassr and Bayern Munich this summer. Earlier this month, TEAMtalk reported that United had also granted the Portuguese midfielder the “green light” to start speaking with Saudi sports teams.
DID YOU KNOW?
Even though Fernandes had only been in the spotlight for more than a year with the Red Devils, Fernandes was highly lauded by Thomas Tuchel, the PSG manager at the time, back in 2021. Before the midfielder’s transfer to Old Trafford, the German coach had disclosed that he had urged the team to attempt and pursue the signing of the player.
He said: “With my first sporting director in Paris, Antero Henrique, a Portuguese sporting director, and he knew [Fernandes] very well.
“We fought hard to have a connection to him and to bring him to our team. I got made aware of him more in detail, so we watched more and more games about him and followed him and tried to be in touch with him to make it happen.
“Obviously, he decided [to sign for Man Utd] and I was never personally in touch with him, but we tried and he went another way. [It is] bad for us that we have to play against him.”
WHAT NEXT FOR FERNANDES?
It appears improbable that the Manchester United captain will ever leave Erik ten Hag’s team at this time. But, given the team purge being carried out by INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Portugal international might be permitted to depart if the team so desires.
