Teddy Sheringham has praised Bruno Fernandes for staying at “big club” Manchester United while they “aren’t at the top of their game.”
Fernandes has been United’s best player for essentially his entire spell there. He’s deservedly the captain, being the club’s talisman, with 98 goals and 86 assists in 290 games there.
Last season, Fernandes was quite obviously the best player at United by some way, as he was directly involved in 19 Premier League goals during a 15th-placed season, and helped push them to the Europa League final with seven goals and four assists.
This summer, he had the opportunity to head to Saudi Arabia, with Al-Hilal reportedly offering £100million for his services, but he turned it down.
At the time, he said he still wanted to play “at the highest level possible,” which is in Europe.
Sheringham has praised the United captain for not ditching the club despite them being in hard times.
He told Racing Tipster: “I think it’s great that Fernandes wants to stay. He realises what a big club United are. United probably had that same thought, where they could have sold him to Saudi Arabia for 100 million or something like that, for a 30-year-old.
“They could have landed big money to really start recharging the batteries at United with new players.
“But good on Fernandes. He realises that United obviously aren’t at the top of their game at the moment, but they’re still one of the biggest football clubs around. You want to stay there for as long as you can.
“I really like Bruno. He’s head and shoulders the best player. You would much rather have a Manchester United team with him in it than without him.”
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It is clear that United are a better side with Fernandes in, and they are fortunate that he was strong enough to turn down what was reported as a three-year contract worth around £200million.
That sort of money is not likely to be offered within Europe, but if a big sum did come in from a club in the continent who are of a comfortably higher standing that United, there’s a chance the Red Devils would not have been so lucky.
But whether anyone in Europe will come in with a big offer for him after he showed loyalty to United is a question in itself now, with the fact Fernandes is soon to be 31 also a potential barrier to a big move.
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