Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes has told the Official Manchester United Podcast that he was ‘sad’ after a move to Tottenham Hotspur fell through.
Fernandes joined United in a deal worth a total of £68million back in January, and he has starred for the Red Devils ever since.
The 26-year-old has racked up 18 goals and 13 assists in 33 games for United, becoming one of the Premier League’s top playmakers.
It could have been so very different for Fernandes though, as Tottenham wanted to sign him from Sporting in the summer of 2019.
Tottenham couldn’t agree a deal with the Portuguese side, as president Frederico Varandas told Sporting’s official website that part of the offer was dependent on ‘difficult’ events like Spurs winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
In the end, Spurs signed Giovani Lo Celso on loan from Real Betis, eventually making the move permanent earlier this year.
Now, Fernandes has suggested that he was ‘close’ to joining Tottenham, but Sporting wouldn’t allow the deal to go through, with the playmaker suggesting he was ‘sad’ but not mad.
Fernandes added that Tottenham’s offer was an ‘amazing proposal’, but thinks that the deal maybe didn’t go through because he had something special on the horizon in joining United.
“The truth is I had chances to go to other teams,” said Fernandes. “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,” he added.
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