Man United star admits he was ‘sad’ to see ‘amazing’ Tottenham proposal fall through

Bruno Fernandes has quickly become one of the first names on the teamsheet at Old Trafford but if things had worked out differently, the Portuguese international may have been lining up for Spurs under his compatriot Jose Mourinho by now.

Tottenham were heavily linked with a move for Fernandes during the summer of 2019 (Standard) when Mauricio Pochettino was still in charge but the midfielder ended up staying put at Sporting Lisbon, with the North Londoners instead snapping up Giovani Lo Celso.

Man Utd ended up paying £67.6 million to bring him to Old Trafford in the subsequent transfer window (BBC Sport).

While some may have viewed the transfer fee as excessive at the time, the 26-year-old has arguably proved that he is worth every penny as he has been one of the Red Devils’ best players since arriving at the club.

Fernandes had previously admitted that Spurs did make an approach for him in the summer of 2019 but Sporting did not want to sell.

The midfielder has now admitted that he was disappointed to see his move to Tottenham fall through at the time.

Speaking to the Official Manchester United Podcast, he said: “The truth is I had chances to go to other teams.

“I was close (to) Tottenham. In the summer I was more close (to) Tottenham than Manchester.

“Sporting thought at that moment the proposal was not good enough, they think they deserve more for a player like me. They want more money. I was not mad, I was sad.”

“Because the dream to come to the Premier League was not coming. At the time, the dream to come to the Premier League, to a club like Tottenham was an amazing proposal.

“But everything has a purpose. Maybe at that time, I don’t go to Tottenham because something special was coming.

“Waiting worked better for me because I got to put two dreams together – to play in the Premier League and for Manchester United.”

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