Reports | Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United come to agreement over Bruno Fernandes
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Manchester United have finally gotten hold of their top winter target, Bruno Fernandes, as Sporting Lisbon finally agree to a deal. The Portuguese is set to join the Red Devils for an initial fee of €55 million but the fee could rise to €80 million depending on certain performance-related clauses.
Manchester United’s trajectory this season hasn’t been convincing. Their on-field performances coupled with club hierarchy’s inadequacy has really put the club in jeopardy. Ed Woodward and Co are failing to get the transfer business done which is not helping the team to improve on paper. A number of players have been linked to Manchester United but none of the deals have come into reality.
However, this soon might change as the Red Devils have finally been successful in getting one deal over the line with the Guardian reporting that Bruno Fernandes is set to join Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon before the end of the winter transfer window. The report further added that the two sides have come to an agreement of a transfer fee of around €55 million plus an additional €25 million in performance-related add-ons.
While personal terms between United and the 25-year-old midfielder are yet to be signed there is hope that this will be a formality. Fernandes is expected to enter into a four-and-a-half-year deal with an additional year's option and reports have indicated that he will earn about €6 million a year. The Red Devils refused to meet Lisbon’s initial demands of €85 million for the playmaker but with the Liga NOS club softening their stance and demands, things changed.
The first €15m of add-ons is for domestic and Champions League appearances, while the remaining €10m is for bonuses that will only be triggered if Fernandes achieves exceptional personal incentives. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will get a massive boost with Fernandes’ arrival as the team is very light in the midfield positions with long term injuries to both Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay leaving them short.
Bruno Fernandes is “ready to fly” today to Manchester with his agent Miguel Pinho. They’ve flight scheduled on next hours - the contract until June 2024 is almost ready.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 29, 2020
‘Green light’ expected by the two clubs, then the deal will be completed and announced. 🔴 #MUFC #Bruno
