Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes says he rejected a huge offer from Saudi Pro-League club Al-Hilal because he wants to continue to “play at the highest level”.
The 30-year-old spent the past few days seriously considering a deal that would have more than doubled his salary at Old Trafford, where he is one of the biggest earners.
However, after discussing the matter with his family, Fernandes informed Al-Hilal he would not be joining them.
Speaking before Portugal’s Nations League semi-final against Germany in Munich on Wednesday, Fernandes said United boss Ruben Amorim had asked him not to leave.
“Manchester United said they didn’t want to sell me,” he said. “They said if I wanted to go I could, but they didn’t need the money. I spoke to coach Ruben Amorim who, throughout that period, he was pushing for me not to go.”
Fernandes said it was an “exciting offer” from Al-Hilal and it would have been “easy” to move to Saudi Arabia, with several Portuguese players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves currently there.
However, he added: “I want to play at the highest possible level.
“I want to play major competitions. I know I still can and I want to be happy doing the thing I love the most.
“For better or worse, this is how I see football and I’m passionate about football and this is the decision I’ve made.”
United are understood to be delighted by the news, which came after boss Amorim expressed his belief on Friday that Fernandes would stay.
There were no direct conversations between United and Al-Hilal, so they were never presented with a bid they could turn down.
However, it was expected the Saudi side were prepared to offer between £80m and £100m to sign him in time for this month’s Fifa Club World Cup.
It is not clear whether Al-Hilal will now pursue new targets.
Fernandes has made 290 appearances and scored 98 goals for the club since his £47m move from Sporting in January 2020.
Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville told Sky Sports he believes the transfer would not have been a poor deal for the Old Trafford club but added: “He’s so important.
“The fact that he wants to stay, the fact that he wants to go through this and come out the other side, because it would have been easy for him at the end of this season to say, ‘Look, I’m done here’, will endear him towards Manchester United fans even more.
“To turn that money down at a point where Manchester United are at their lowest ebb and say, ‘No, I want to fight through this, I want to see it through the other side, I want to come out and achieve things’, I think it says a lot about him as a person, as a character.
“The club needs people who are going to run through a brick wall for them.”
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