Bruno Fernandes Out?

[Van Piorsing]

Martial is still at the club, also one of the reasons we have struggled to replace certain players is that we have struggled to generate funds from transfers...

On the likes of Maguire and Lindelof I have no idea what that has to do with anything they should be sold this summer both have a year left on their contracts if I am not mistaken

Varane is gone, Evans is 36 and came from relegated Leicester, so can't demand regular high quality football from him. Maguire & Linde like you said, should be gone this summer, that leaving us with Licha and Kambwala plus Adarabioyo if the deal is real to begin with. You can throw Shaw and Casemiro at CB, but that's just begging another question what exactly is this defense about, in terms of building something new.

This window simply can be not enough to fix everything, don't even get me start on midfield since Ten Hag is addicted to his favourite Dutch midfielder, which he might chase over next 3 years. Finding proper replacement for Fernandes won't be a walk in the park, and chance is we'll be forced to use Mount, because there is lot more to do than just replacing Bruno.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Heading to - we are basically mid-table now

Not yet. Pending, but not just yet.

 

[Florida Man]

Really depends on what style of football INEOS want to implement and what sort of contract Bruno is aiming for. If we want to build up the vertical game and Bruno is happy with a reasonable extension without pay increases, then I don’t see why we can’t make it work. Otherwise we need to cash in and develop a different way.

 

[Cassidy]

Varane is gone, Evans is 36 and came from relegated Leicester, so can't demand regular high quality football from him. Maguire & Linde like you said, should be gone this summer, that leaving us with Licha and Kambwala plus Adarabioyo if the deal is real to begin with. You can throw Shaw and Casemiro at CB, but that's just begging another question what exactly is this defense about, in terms of building something new.

This window simply can be not enough to fix everything, don't even get me start on midfield since Ten Hag is addicted to his favourite Dutch midfielder, which he might chase over next 3 years. Finding proper replacement for Fernandes won't be a walk in the park, and chance is we'll be forced to use Mount, because there is lot more to do than just replacing Bruno.

We are reportedly looking to sign 2 CBs and I'm sure I've seen reported multiple times Adarabioyo will sign for Newcastle.
And I'll say it again Fernandes is not an irreplaceable player especially if we manage to improve other areas of the side, we don't need to sell him but if its a choice between giving him a new deal and selling him then we should should absolutely sell him, its the better option for the squad long term. Its not like we'll be aiming to win the league next season

 

[Van Piorsing]

We are reportedly looking to sign 2 CBs and I'm sure I've seen reported multiple times Adarabioyo will sign for Newcastle

In scenario where Linde and Maguire leaving, signing two CB's is very likely. Can't say if Evans will stay here for another season, so we could be looking at two players added in every formation including midfield and attack, that's 6, possibly 7 if the news about left/right back are spot on.

Perhaps Euro 2024 will give new structure some time to prepare, but that's wishful thinking, and don't think Liverpool and Arsenal will just rest on laurels during the window and make it all easy for United, in terms of a rebuild.

 

[Cassidy]

In scenario where Linde and Maguire leaving, signing two CB's is very likely. Can't say if Evans will stay here for another season, so we could be looking at two players added in every formation including midfield and attack, that's 6, possibly 7 if the news about left/right back are spot on.

Perhaps Euro 2024 will give new structure some time to prepare, but that's wishful thinking, and don't think Liverpool and Arsenal will just rest on laurels during the window and make it all easy for United, in terms of a rebuild.

None of what you said in this post justifies handing Fernandes a new contact

 

[Van Piorsing]

None of what you said in this post justifies handing Fernandes a new contact

Not handing him contract sends logical message to his agent and him, that he's no longer taken into account. He most likely leaves, which forces the club to sign about 7 players. Easy task.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Not handing him contract sends logical message to his agent and him, that he's no longer taken into account. He most likely leaves, which forces the club to sign about 7 players. Easy task.

Explain this maths?

 

[Cassidy]

Not handing him contract sends logical message to his agent and him, that he's no longer taken into account. He most likely leaves, which forces the club to sign about 7 players. Easy task.

Not easy but a lot better than giving him a new deal, and if selling him means we have to sign 1 more player than we intended to this summer so what

 

[Van Piorsing]

Explain this maths?

2 CB's, 2 midfielders, including Bruno replacement, 2 attackers including additional striker, plus possible replacement for Sancho & Antony.

Then you got news about search for a right/left back. Could be up to 7 players and majority of them must be a hit.

 

[Rozay]

Almost two pages and nobody has even questioned the ridiculousness of the source?!

 

[Van Piorsing]

Not easy but a lot better than giving him a new deal, and if selling him means we have to sign 1 more player than we intended to this summer so what

Yes absolutely, it's better to do that in one open heart surgery, but then you have to account risks for it, like lack of time and actual available options to complete the whole operation.

Definitely better than another year of same underperforming players. Erik is here two seasons already, so it's probably enough to make final assessment about majority of players.

 

[tomaldinho1]

2 CB's, 2 midfielders, including Bruno, 2 attackers including additional striker, plus possible replacement for Sancho & Antony.

Then you got news about search for a right/left back. Could be up to 7 players and majority of them must be a hit.

Oh ok, as in +1 player. I thought it was caf hyperbole about how we would need 7 players to make up for his loss

Easy to do, get Veiga from Saudi. Foolish move for him to go, clearly listened to his agent too much, but is class, would work alongside Mainoo well in my opinion and with all the news of unhappy players, we should snap him up. Send them Case and some dosh.

The incoming players are the easy part to be honest, the outgoing is where we've had issues historically.

 

[Cassidy]

Yes absolutely, it's better to do that in one open heart surgery, but then you have to account risks for it, like lack of time and actual available options to complete the whole operation.

Definitely better than another year of same underperforming players. Erik is here two seasons already, so it's probably enough to make final assessment about majority of players.

Do you realise that selling Fernandes means adding 1 additional player to the shipping list this summer, right? So we already have open heart surgery to do, which is probably made easier if someone can give us 100m for a player.

But no instead, we should cave to his wage demands and give him a new deal. Then when he inevitably declines in a couple of seasons we cannot sell him because his wages are too high and be stuck in the stupid cycle we are already stuck in

One would think you were talking about prime Ronaldo the way you are instistant of his importance.

 

[Van Piorsing]

You do realise that selling Fernandes means adding 1 additional player to the shipping list this summer right? So we already have open heart surgery to do which is probably made easier if someone can give us 100m for a player

The past say nobody ever wants to give us even 50m for a player, but I guess that's why mr. Berrada and gang are appointed.

I'm all for it, if we'll act quickly enough... and that Adarabioyo lad, perhaps it is a smartest thing we can do, at this present time, just between the change of key personnel.

 

[Cassidy]

The past say nobody ever wants to give us even 50m for a player, but I guess that's why mr. Berrada and gang are appointed.

I'm all for it, if we'll act quickly enough... and that Adarabioyo lad, perhaps it is a smartest thing we can do, at this present time, just between the change of key personnel.

Well we're not going to sell Fernandes for peanuts... one fo the reason we don't get good money for players is because we never sell them when they are in good shape, always when they have massively declined.
The one we did well on was Lukaku because we acted quickly while he still had good stock.

Who is going to give you 50m for your washed up deadwood that are on massive wages?

 

[Van Piorsing]

Well we're not going to sell Fernandes for peanuts...

Then there's slight possibility he might stay, which is not that that tragic, since I can't even tell if Mount will be fully ready for new season.

I guess he could be, at some point. Perhaps a lot depends if Mount is ready to finally step up, then it's all clarified that Bruno could be given green light to go.

 

[Cassidy]

Then there's slight possibility he might stay, which is not that that tragic, since I can't even tell if Mount will be fully ready for new season.

I guess he could be, at some point. Perhaps a lot depends if Mount is ready to finally step up, then it's all clarified that Bruno could be given green light to go.

On his current contract yes

 

[SATA]

Where does it say they have offered 100M for him? Am I missing something?

 

[Van Piorsing]

On his current contract yes

Yup. If not then it's Mount or search for perfect system player.

 

[Idxomer]

Is there any reliable source for him wanting a new contract?

If true, that would be very silly. He got a new contract only two years ago that could run till 2027.

 

[PINGUtd]

Unsure if it sensible to sell him this summer - assuming we can't replace him straight away with someone like Musiala or Wirtz (which is completely unrealistic). Why not wait the first year of INEOS and reconsider next summer?

There are so many players we should sell before Bruno...

 

[davidmichael]

Once the likes of Casemiro, Varane and Sancho are moved on Fernandes will only be behind Rashford as our top earner and whilst he finished the season well 3/4 of the season were far from acceptable.

I think he has two years left so unless the Saudi club want to pay in excess of £100 million for our club captain then it won’t happen and our players will need to understand that the days of being heavily rewarded financially for mediocrity over a whole season are over.

I’m not against selling the whole squad outside of Mainoo, Garnacho and Hojlund though so if a Saudi offer in excess of £100 million which is paid in one go as all Saudi transfers are then we’d be silly to not accept and would allow us to move away from being stuck in a 4-2-3-1 and being a lot more tactically flexible.

 

[Adisa]

He'd be fairly pathetic to run off to Saudi. If he was going to leave, he would have a handful of Champion's League/trophy contending teams interested in him.

Taking the big money bag from Saudi would expose that ultra competitive, hungry for trophies reputation he has cultivated.

Why? He has at most 3-5 years at the top level. People act like football is purely a sport. If another employer offered you triple your salary, you would move.

 

[Semper Fudge]

Why? He has at most 3-5 years at the top level. People act like football is purely a sort. If another employer offered you triple your salary, you would move.

A sort of what?

 

[Mr Pigeon]

If it's true that he wants a new contract then I'm glad we're not giving him one right now. I love the guy and he has been a machine for years but that's what worries me. There's a risk that he'll spontaneously combust after being overworked for so long and then we'll be left with yet another situation where we have a very highly paid player, with years left on their contract, counting down the days until they get taken to the glue factory.

 

[Bwuk]

Some absolutely clueless takes in this thread.

What a player.

 

[Rojofiam]

Some gems from earlier in this thread

I don't like Fernandes. He's an overrated player who happens to be a huge cheat on top of that.

He's never been anywhere near close to world class. When we face top teams, he's routinely one of the worst players on the pitch.

He's been okay when we face lower opposition because his inability to take care of the ball costs us less (even though he's still infuriating), but, against the good teams, him constantly giving the ball away whether through poor passing or being physically weak under pressure usually costs us.

Not to mention that despite being poor throughout our entire period post Fergie, regular big game pummelings did not occur until we made him our main man. I don't think it's a coincidence. Playing top teams where your entire game is centred around a player who gives the ball away for fun and is incredibly weak under pressure and in tight spaces was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

He can whine and cry someplace else.

Is he really World Class though even with loosest definition of world class it's hard to make a case for him .

How could we ever reach the dizzy heights of qualifying for Champions league every other season to get unceremoniously dumped at group stages if we move on from our Captain Fantastic .

Anything over £40m+ we should seriously consider that offer .

That's the most realistic fee we will ever get for Somebody like Bruno considering his age and quality and I include Saudi league in that as well.

World Class for me would be the player that would get into most top teams starting Eleven and if not elevate them but would atleast help them maintain their current standards , Bruno is nowhere being that player .

Please read what I wrote I said either elevate top teams or atleast help them maintain the standards and no he hasn't been that player we have been more or less being the same team in terms of results since his arrival with the added humiliation of getting dumped at Group stages in Champions league both times .

He wouldn't I am pretty confident about that but lucky for you we will never find it out and you can continue to hold on to the notion that he is some great player .

More or less agreed just like to add that Paradox of Bruno is he can't be your main man in the team if you want to be top team and if he isn't your main man then there is no point of him being in the team .

What nonsense am I reading here? Fernandes wasting his career with us?

The reality is that if someone was willing to pay him more than us for his skill set, he would have long departed. He is an assist machine and of course is carrying the club on his back right now (has done for a couple years at least) but that doesn’t mean he isn’t part of the problem. To accommodate him, the manager has to throw any collective game-plan out of the window.

He is having a purple patch right now but let’s not rewrite history. He has frustrated more often than not and on his bad days you feel like tearing your hair out. His obsession to be everything all at the same time takes away from making the team greater than the sum of their parts. The only reason he gets such treatment is because our managers and owners have messed things up to the extent that the only way we win now is through a little bit of individual brilliance from him.

Comes down to how much we'd get offered.

Hes obviously more valuable than Rashford right now. £80m+ would be impossible to turn down, because ultimately he's not a top level player who's going to win you titles.

I'd take £60m. Dont know if the club would.

17 goal involvements in the league, only 3 against top 8 sides. Very much the story of his United career. Genuinely world class?

World class but will never win a major trophy.

Sporting won their only league title of 20 years or so the season after getting rid of him. Maybe the same will happen to us if we sell him.

As I’ve said many times, he is precisely top Europa league class.

Deserves better? The current United perfectly matches his level of ability.

What is world class and how is Bruno it? He wouldn’t start for any of the top sides - City, Arsenal, Madrid and co, as he’s clearly not as good as the very best attacking midfielders in the game.

The way people use that term you’d think Bruno was Kane - this genuinely top class player who just hasn’t been given the right opportunities at his club. Bruno is very good but clearly has too many flaws in his game to be among the cream of the crop.

A world class player would be full of interest from world class clubs across Europe. A terrible United team and there isn't an ounce of interest from any of the big clubs in Europe. So much for world class. He wouldn't get into any of the top teams across Europe.

He is the worst captain we've had. (Along with Maguire)

Got to be the only 'world class' player that doesn't ever have a stand out performance against the top team.

Bruno has been part of the worst United Premier League finish, in United PL history.

2021-2022 Bruno was ever present.
2023-2024 Bruno has been ever present.

You people act as if Bruno is some monster footballer

The guy has never been involved in a title race in his life, has never played in a Champions League QF game in his life

But in some world Bruno is some monster footballer, if Bruno had achieved what Bernardo Silva has achieved probably his fans would have built a statute for Bruno.

As others before him left, we need to move away from Bruno and build a team of players who can play very well consistently for over 30 games a season.

The 10- a good game a season - merchant footballers is who we should sell immediately, Bruno is part of this group

Odegaard is light years better than Bruno.

If we swapped Bruno for Odegaard we'd be a much better football team instantly.

Odegaard isn't every player, he's the best player in a team that is literally light years ahead of us.

The closest Bruno will ever get to winning a league title is being sold the season before Sporting won their only league title in 20 years. No coincidence.

Wow you really seem to be struggling to cope with the news that Odegaard is a better player than Bruno. Surprising.

If you swapped Odegaard with Bruno they'd probably be further away from the title than they are currently. By how much, who knows.

The way he plays, and the fact that he's captain, I'd say he'd be detrimental to any rebuild. I'd sell him for the right price

 

[cpresc]

Bruno is easily our best player

If we build a new, young team he'll be our new Cantona for the kids

 

[RyRy11]

Some gems from earlier in this thread

Usual suspects...

 

[Uncle Mainoo]

Bruno is easily our best player

If we build a new, young team he'll be our new Cantona for the kids

For him to have a good game and for us not to be exposed defensively from his positional ill discipline, he had to play false 9.

Unless that is the future there is no building around him. The structure of the team has to improve and that means he has to leave the midfield otherwise we will continue to lose the midfield battle. He is the reason for McFred.

 

[Rojofiam]

Usual suspects...

I don't think it's a bad opinion at all to admit that whilst Bruno has been an incredible player for us, he's soon turning 30 and a big money offer would seriously have to be considered.

However, underrating him to the point where posters claim he can never even be part of a title race, and that he's a problem, and an overrated mediocre player is just silly.

It's also a myth that he cannot be part of a possession-based system. He will carry out the tactical instructions if the manager tells him to keep the ball and keep the creativity more controlled, like how Odegaard plays in Arsenal. However, we've been a transition-heavy team the whole time Bruno's been here and he's one of the biggest reasons why we've always been deadly at them.

If anything, he would have even more goal contributions in a City or Arsenal side, where they have more possession and his job would be easier IMO. Or imagine how many assists he could rack up at Bayern in the Bundesliga, or at Madrid/Barcelona in La Liga. Would be scary.

 

[Mindhunter]

Some gems from earlier in this thread

Instead of being a “told you so” merchant and quoting posts en mass, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong with my post? I still stand by it.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It would be interesting to know what the contract issue is. If it’s more money surely you can add extra clauses based on performances but extra time is the thing I feel the club is wary of, he’s under contract until he’s 32.

 

[Rojofiam]

Instead of being a “told you so” merchant and quoting posts en mass, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong with my post? I still stand by it.

For starters, thinking that players will just leave if a big offer comes in for them. Bruno has never been made available for transfer at United, and neither has he expressed any desire to leave. Add to that that he's been a well-paid and crucial player for a top 3 biggest club in the world, which club did you expect to come in with a huge bid for him? We aren't a stepping stone club, and players don't move to Manchester United for the short-term, unless they're well into their 30s and/or clearly aren't good enough to be a long-term player for us, like Weghorst or Ighalo. The only two clubs in the world that could've tempted him IMO are Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they haven't exactly been swimming in riches lately, and just because they haven't expressed serious interest in him, that doesn't mean he's not good enough for them. Bruno also joined just before Covid as well, and even the likes of Barca or Real wouldn't have been able to afford him in 2020 or 2021, for example. Bruno also hasn't expressed a desire to eventually leave, like Hazard, Rüdiger, Lewandowski, and other high profile signings the two Spanish giants have made in the last 5 years.

Why did no one try to buy Mbappé other than Real Madrid? Why has no one tried to get Rodri or any key player out of Man City? Why did no one bid for Mané until the player himself specifically told Liverpool that he wants to begin a new chapter in his career? It doesn't work like that. And I can mention many more examples. Leao seems content at Milan, hence there not being dozens of clubs offering 9 figures for him. De Jong at Barca, etc. Sporting wise, City are more attractive than us at the moment, but Manchester United aren't just a stepping stone club either, we've never been that. We're one of the biggest destinations for players in world football even in these last 11 years. Players also each have their own preferences. We're probably lucky that Bruno truly loves United and probably wouldn't be interested in the likes of PSG or Bayern Munich. Italian teams cannot really afford him. Going to United from Sporting isn't like going to Dortmund, or Tottenham, unless your ultimate goal as a player is Real Madrid or Barcelona. Bruno doesn't seem to be that guy, though.

If he did want to leave, there would suddenly be a lot of interest in him, I can guarantee you that.

The points you make regarding how he disrupts any kind of game-plan or that he's just having a purple patch is just baseless, so I won't go into that deeply.

Edit: You need to consider in the case of the two Spanish giants, that the only two big money transfer fees Madrid have paid in the last 4 years are Tchouameni for 80m euros and Bellingham for 103m. Mbappé's sign-on bonus will be the third time they truly splash the cash since Covid. Barcelona has been even more modest on the transfer market since 2020.

 

[predator]

Instead of being a “told you so” merchant and quoting posts en mass, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong with my post? I still stand by it.

"To accommodate him, the manager has to throw any collective game-plan out of the window"

Sorry but this is simply incorrect and also laughable given what happened yesterday.

 

[Pickle85]

Instead of being a “told you so” merchant and quoting posts en mass, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong with my post? I still stand by it.

"He has frustrated more often than not"

is also untrue and an example of confirmation bias on your part.

 

[Baneofthegame]

For starters, thinking that players will just leave if a big offer comes in for them. Bruno has never been made available for transfer at United, and neither has he expressed any desire to leave. Add to that that he's been a well-paid and crucial player for a top 3 biggest club in the world, which club did you expect to come in with a huge bid for him? We aren't a stepping stone club, and players don't move to Manchester United for the short-term, unless they're well into their 30s and/or clearly aren't good enough to be a long-term player for us, like Weghorst or Ighalo. The only two clubs in the world that could've tempted him IMO are Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they haven't exactly been swimming in riches lately, and just because they haven't expressed serious interest in him, that doesn't mean he's not good enough for them. Bruno also joined just before Covid as well, and even the likes of Barca or Real wouldn't have been able to afford him in 2020 or 2021, for example. Bruno also hasn't expressed a desire to eventually leave, like Hazard, Rüdiger, Lewandowski, and other high profile signings the two Spanish giants have made in the last 5 years.

Why did no one try to buy Mbappé other than Real Madrid? Why has no one tried to get Rodri or any key player out of Man City? Why did no one bid for Mané until the player himself specifically told Liverpool that he wants to begin a new chapter in his career? It doesn't work like that. And I can mention many more examples. Leao seems content at Milan, hence there not being dozens of clubs offering 9 figures for him. De Jong at Barca, etc. Sporting wise, City are more attractive than us at the moment, but Manchester United aren't just a stepping stone club either, we've never been that. We're one of the biggest destinations for players in world football even in these last 11 years. Players also each have their own preferences. We're probably lucky that Bruno truly loves United and probably wouldn't be interested in the likes of PSG or Bayern Munich. Italian teams cannot really afford him. Going to United from Sporting isn't like going to Dortmund, or Tottenham, unless your ultimate goal as a player is Real Madrid or Barcelona. Bruno doesn't seem to be that guy, though.

If he did want to leave, there would suddenly be a lot of interest in him, I can guarantee you that.

The points you make regarding how he disrupts any kind of game-plan or that he's just having a purple patch is just baseless, so I won't go into that deeply.

Edit: You need to consider in the case of the two Spanish giants, that the only two big money transfer fees Madrid have paid in the last 4 years are Tchouameni for 80m euros and Bellingham for 103m. Mbappé's sign-on bonus will be the third time they truly splash the cash since Covid. Barcelona has been even more modest on the transfer market since 2020.

Fair post, would say Real did try to get Mbappe for 200 million, but PSG obviously got him to sign that crazy contract.

I think some of the posts earlier in the thread were justified, for 50-60% of the season Bruno was poor, the last couple of months and yesterday especially he was fantastic, but this could be said of the majority of the team.

I still feel if a crazy offer came in of say 100 million, we should still cash in as it’s good business and we could reinvest it into someone like Wirtz (the dream) potentially.

 

[NZT-One]

"To accommodate him, the manager has to throw any collective game-plan out of the window"

Sorry but this is simply incorrect and also laughable given what happened yesterday.

I probably also wouldn't use the wording of the other poster because it sounds way too absolute to have connections to real life but using yesterdays game as counter argument is also probably not the best idea. I mean, our gameplan was very effective and all and we won deservedly but we don't want that to be the template going forward, don't we?

 

[Mindhunter]

For starters, thinking that players will just leave if a big offer comes in for them. Bruno has never been made available for transfer at United, and neither has he expressed any desire to leave. Add to that that he's been a well-paid and crucial player for a top 3 biggest club in the world, which club did you expect to come in with a huge bid for him? We aren't a stepping stone club, and players don't move to Manchester United for the short-term, unless they're well into their 30s and/or clearly aren't good enough to be a long-term player for us, like Weghorst or Ighalo. The only two clubs in the world that could've tempted him IMO are Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they haven't exactly been swimming in riches lately, and just because they haven't expressed serious interest in him, that doesn't mean he's not good enough for them. Bruno also joined just before Covid as well, and even the likes of Barca or Real wouldn't have been able to afford him in 2020 or 2021, for example. Bruno also hasn't expressed a desire to eventually leave, like Hazard, Rüdiger, Lewandowski, and other high profile signings the two Spanish giants have made in the last 5 years.

Why did no one try to buy Mbappé other than Real Madrid? Why has no one tried to get Rodri or any key player out of Man City? Why did no one bid for Mané until the player himself specifically told Liverpool that he wants to begin a new chapter in his career? It doesn't work like that. And I can mention many more examples. Leao seems content at Milan, hence there not being dozens of clubs offering 9 figures for him. De Jong at Barca, etc. Sporting wise, City are more attractive than us at the moment, but Manchester United aren't just a stepping stone club either, we've never been that. We're one of the biggest destinations for players in world football even in these last 11 years. Players also each have their own preferences. We're probably lucky that Bruno truly loves United and probably wouldn't be interested in the likes of PSG or Bayern Munich. Italian teams cannot really afford him. Going to United from Sporting isn't like going to Dortmund, or Tottenham, unless your ultimate goal as a player is Real Madrid or Barcelona. Bruno doesn't seem to be that guy, though.

If he did want to leave, there would suddenly be a lot of interest in him, I can guarantee you that.

The points you make regarding how he disrupts any kind of game-plan or that he's just having a purple patch is just baseless, so I won't go into that deeply.

Edit: You need to consider in the case of the two Spanish giants, that the only two big money transfer fees Madrid have paid in the last 4 years are Tchouameni for 80m euros and Bellingham for 103m. Mbappé's sign-on bonus will be the third time they truly splash the cash since Covid. Barcelona has been even more modest on the transfer market since 2020.

Thanks for replying to my post with good intentions.

I don’t want to draw false equivalence with top 4-5 players in the world and their clubs are regularly playing CL and competing for top honours unlike Bruno’s club. He may not want to leave (even though the media narrative at that time was to the contrary) but the reality is that he will never have the same influence at a CL club as of today. Neither of us know if there will be interest from CL clubs if he is suddenly in the market but my guess is still no.

If you call video evidence baseless then I will not debate that point with you. Game after game, we have seen this season that he does disrupt game plans. It is not necessarily a bad thing because we need mavericks who can create something out of nothing and he has saved us with his individual brilliance from time to time. But this season our lack of coherence has resulted us finishing 8th and clearly he was part of the problem.

Part of it could be him being played lower down the pitch and him being knackered but that’s part of the problem too that he is undroppable, even when he has no gas left in the tank. He has almost 0 competition for his place too.

He is actually one of my favourite players but if we need to beat the likes of City at their game, we need more coherence and system players who are consistent across the length of an entire season.