Bruno Fernandes has shed further light on his failed move to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2019.
What’s been said?
In a recent interview with The Athletic, the Manchester United midfielder revealed that, following Daniel Levy’s failed attempt to bring him to north London in August of 2019 – when Spurs saw a €65m (£57m) bid rejected due to the offer including €20m (£17.5m) in bonuses for winning the Premier League and Champions League – he was furious to see Tottenham’s proposal knocked back by Sporting Lisbon.
Regarding Spurs’ failed move, Fernandes said: “Obviously I wanted to go to the Premier League. The manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was the one who wanted me there. It was a good offer but Sporting tried their best to keep me.
“The president [Frederico Varandas] spoke with me but he spoke with me on the wrong day. It was the day after they decided to refuse the offer from Tottenham and I was really angry. Luckily for me, the manager [Marcel Keizer] was the right one at the right time.”
Levy must be red-faced
Considering just how impressive Fernandes has been ever since his €80m (£67.7m) move to Old Trafford in January of 2020, Levy must be incredibly frustrated that he did not simply up his offer for the attacking midfielder in order to get a deal over the line while he had the chance.
Indeed, the £96.5m-rated talent made an immediate impact over his 14 Premier League fixtures in 2019/20 after his winter move, scoring eight goals, registering seven assists and creating three big chances, with these returns seeing the playmaker average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.71 – ranking him as the second-best performer in the league that year.
The Portugal international has far from slowed down in the time since, scoring a total of 51 goals and providing 41 assists over his 134 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United – including two goals and one assist in four games against Spurs – with the midfielder averaging a direct goal contribution every 120 minutes of football played for the Red Devils.
As such, when taking into account just how much of a success Fernandes has been in Manchester, and with United having ultimately secured the signing of the £240k-per-week sensation for just £10m more than Levy offered Sporting, the Spurs chairman must be red in the face whenever he watches the 28-year-old in action – as not increasing his initial offer for the playmaker will undoubtedly go down as one of the 60-year-old’s biggest mistakes of his time in north London.
