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What's the story?
As reported by MEN, Sporting Lisbon's highly rated attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes has revealed that he has always dreamed of playing in England, adding further fire to the rumours that he is considering offers from Manchester Untied and Manchester City.
In case you didn't know...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United midfield is in need of a serious rebuilding process especially in midfield with Ander Herrera having announced he will be leaving the club, possibly for a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Fred and Andreas Pereira have disappointed in opportunities given to them to share the creative burden imposed on Paul Pogba. After a disastrous season where they finished 6th and missed out on qualification for next season's Champions League, many top draw players are reluctant to consider tranfers to Old Trafford.
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola dont want to rest on their laurels, having won an unprecedented domestic treble this season, lifting the EFL Cup, the FA Cup, as well as the Premier League. Never one to back down from improving his squad, Guardiola reportedly considers Bruno Fernandes as a long term successor to David SIlva.
The heart of the matter
24-year-old Portuguese international Bruno Fernandes has been a revelation for Sporting Lisbon this season, scoring 20 goals in the Liga NOS to become the highest-scoring Portuguese midfielder in a single season of all time. He was part of the Sporting side that defeated FC Porto 2-2 (5-4 on penalties) in yesterday's Taca de Portugal final. In an interview given to Diario de Noticias, he talked about how he is happy at Lisbon currently but has always dreamed of a move to the Premier League.
"I said that I would leave Sporting once my ambitions were greater than those of the club, but they are not at the moment. The ambition to be national champion is still here and so I have no reason to leave. Obviously if an irrefutable proposal for me arrives, and it’s good for the club, let’s get together and decide together. I always said that I was an ambitious player and from a very early age I have had a dream of playing in England, where you can live pure football without big controversy, without big cases."
He elaborated that he is now focused on Sporting's pre-season and Portugal's upcoming UEFA Europa League fixtures.
Now, any of the other leagues, Germany, Spain and Italy are also very good and ambitious. But as I said, I’m good at Sporting. I want to make a good pre-season and if anything comes up I’m available to do what is best for the club.
Fernandes also revealed how he had turned down a Premier League transfer last summer.
"Last year I received approaches, mainly from England and also from Spain, but I did not feel prepared to go,’ he told Sport TV last month. ‘Not because of difficulty, but for the high number of games in England."
What's next?
Bruno Fernades has been selected as part of Portugal's 23-member squad for the UEFA Nations League semi-final in June against Switzerland. The match is set for 6th June Thursday with kickoff scheduled for 12:15 am IST.
