Pochettino prepares for an unpleasant surprise: Bruno Fernandes shocks Manchester United at a critical time
Manchester United have suffered a fresh blow concerning the future of their Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes, after the midfielder rejected a second offer to renew his contract with the club. It is a development that threatens the continued presence of one of the team's most prominent stars at Old Trafford, and opens the door to the possibility of his departure for free at the end of the season, should the board fail to reach a new agreement with him.
According to Britain's "Sky Sports", Fernandes has turned down a second offer from Manchester United to extend his stay at the club, despite the board's clear desire to keep him. His future now stands as one of the thorniest issues the club must resolve in the coming months.
United first tried to renew Fernandes's deal last summer, tabling an offer to the player who had signed his previous contract two years earlier. He rejected it. The scene then repeated itself with the second offer, deepening fears that he could walk away.
The Portuguese star's current contract expires at the end of this season. Under the regulations, that means he can open talks with clubs outside England from next January, paving the way for a free move in the summer should no agreement be reached over his future.
United do hold an option to extend his contract by a further year. That hands the club a vital card in the negotiations to keep their captain, and it blocks him from opening talks with foreign clubs in January over a free transfer at season's end.
Al-Hilal were close to the sensational deal
Offers from abroad are nothing new in Fernandes's United career. Back in June 2025, the player revealed he had rejected a huge bid from Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal, who were ready to pay him a weekly wage approaching three times his current 250,000 pounds sterling.
The Saudi enticements went beyond personal terms. Al-Hilal were willing to hand United 100 million pounds sterling for their captain, yet Fernandes chose to stay at Old Trafford, preferring to continue his journey with the English club despite the sheer scale of the offer.
His name was also linked with a move to Turkey's Galatasaray last August, amid reports that the club were ready to make an approach. United held firm, insisting their captain was not for sale at any price and leaving every possibility open over his future.
Rejecting both offers has not softened United's stance. The board still want him to stay, and talks between the two sides are expected to continue over the coming period in a bid to find a formula that satisfies player and club alike.
Their desire to keep Fernandes rests on his technical and leadership value, as well as his pivotal role over recent seasons. He has become one of the players United lean on most to build attacks and create chances, and a captain who shoulders huge responsibility in the dressing room.
Pochettino enters the scene: a past that connects him with Fernandes
Fernandes once enjoyed an exceptional campaign, picking up both the Football Writers' Association and Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year awards. His 21 assists in the Premier League set a record for the competition.
Matching those levels has proved beyond him this season. He has managed just four goals, among them a hat-trick against Ipswich Town last August in the match that still stands as United's only Premier League win this term, according to the report.
The row over Fernandes's contract arrives just as United close in on appointing Argentina's Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager on Friday. He succeeds Michael Carrick, sacked on Thursday, in a move designed to shuffle the pack at the club.
Pochettino and the United star share an old, unfinished story. Fernandes admitted in 2019 that he had come close to joining Tottenham while the Argentine was in charge in London, only for Sporting Lisbon to block the deal. The player stayed in Portugal before later moving to United.
So the English club now face two overlapping files: launching a new technical project under Pochettino, and keeping a captain whose contract is running down amid repeated rejected offers and the threat of fresh enticements from abroad. Fernandes's future could become one of the earliest and most decisive tests for the Argentine coach and the new board. Losing a player of his stature for nothing would be a blow the Red Devils' fans would find hard to forgive.
