Man Utd are bracing themselves for a record-breaking transfer bid from Real Madrid for Bruno Fernandes in the summer transfer window, according to reports.

The Red Devils are having a nightmare season with Ruben Amorim’s side currently 13th in the Premier League table after 29 matches.

Man Utd replaced Erik ten Hag with Amorim in November but results and performances have got worse under the Portuguese head coach.

Amorim is struggling to get his Man Utd squad to adapt to his playing style, philosophy and tactics – but one player who has stepped up to the plate is Fernandes.

Fernandes has contributed an impressive 16 goals and 14 assists in 44 appearances in all competitions this season despite their struggles.

And that has attracted the attention of La Liga giants Real Madrid with the Daily Star claiming Man Utd are ‘braced for record transfer bid’ from Los Blancos in the summer transfer window.

Real Madrid are set to give ‘the cash-strapped Red Devils a major dilemma’ in the summer after the Portugal international ’emerged as a shock £90million target’ for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

The Spanish side ‘have been represented at virtually every Manchester United match recently – both at home and away’ and ‘the subject of their scouting missions is Old Trafford star Fernandes’.

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The Daily Star adds:

‘United boss Ruben Amorim doesn’t want to lose his inspirational captain, but United’s desire to make cuts and raise money means they would have to consider a big offer for the midfielder.

‘Real are planning a squad overhaul at the end of the season, which includes the signing of England right back Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool on a free transfer.

‘And Fernandes is being eyed as a top signing who could also be a potential successor to Luka Modric, 39.’

If Fernandes was sold to Real Madrid for £90m it would be a record sale at Man Utd with the deal eclipsing the £80m Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

After signing a new contract earlier this season, Fernandes said: “The club knew that I want to compete with the best teams. They knew that we needed to improve the team. And I think that we’re doing that.

“I said to them: ‘I don’t need you to promise me that we’re going to win the league,’ because no one can promise that. But at least that we will have a team to compete and be competitive throughout the season, to try to achieve silverware and to compete at the highest levels.

“I think the club is doing that. It’s trying to bring people in to get more players with quality in the team; to get more competitive, [so everyone is] fighting for your place.”

Man Utd are likely to be the unnamed side who have made a bid for Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo, according to reports.

The Red Devils have had a nightmare season in the Premier League so far with Ruben Amorim’s side currently 13th in the Premier League table.

Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November but things have got worse under the Portuguese head coach as the players struggle to adapt to his playing style, philosophy and tactics.

Man Utd still have hope of qualifying for Europe through the Europa League with the Red Devils set to be awarded a place in the Champions League if they can reach the final and win it.

With rumours that the Red Devils could have to sell before they buy players this summer, an unexpected qualification for the Champions League could make a huge difference to their spending plans.

As well as extra money, Man Utd could attract better players and one La Liga star they want to sign is Barcelona defender Araujo.

READ: Man City FFP: Five steps to PL return from League Two post-expulsion include replacing Guardiola

Reports in Spain claim that the Uruguay international has ‘three offers’ to leave Barcelona as he ‘attracts the attention of several teams’ around Europe.

And Man Utd are rumoured to be one of the three clubs who have put €60m (£50m) on the table for Araujo with Bayern Munich and Juventus potentially being the other two unnamed clubs.

‘According to sources close to the player, three clubs have formalized offers for Araujo.

‘A Premier League team (possibly Manchester United, looking for a defensive leader). A German giant (Bayern Munich, who have tried their hand at it in the past). And a Serie A club (Juventus, looking for a Chiellini heir).

‘The 60 million they are offering far exceeds the player’s market value, which has led Barça to consider selling him, especially in a context of financial need.’

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Another player linked to Man Utd is Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham with ex-Black Cats defender Michael Gray insisting the yougster could have an instant impact.

Gray told Betfred earlier this week: “I would say yes because he’s an outstanding talent that’s still probably got a bit to learn. One thing I would look at is that Amad Diallo went to Sunderland on loan and he was outstanding.

“He then goes back to Manchester United, has a couple of injuries and has to bide his time, but once he got himself in the first-team, he’s probably been their best player this season, so when I take all that into consideration, then absolutely Jobe Bellingham could go to Manchester United, even though I want him to remain at Sunderland.

“I think it’s probably on the cards that he’s going to go somewhere. 100% he’s got the physicality, he’s ready for the big stage and when you look at what his brother’s achieved in a short period of time, I’m not saying that Jobe’s going to reach those levels, but he’s got all the ability in the world to be nearly as good as his brother.”

A section of Manchester United fans will stage a sit-in protest during the derby next weekend as they continue their campaign against the Glazers.

The 1958 Manchester United fan group has joined forces with breakaway club FC United of Manchester to plan the protest, which will see fans stay in their seats long after the final whistle.

The goal of the protest is to show the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe how many fans will not be renewing their season ticket next season after prices were raised. Ratcliffe, who oversees United’s football policy recently ended all ticket concessions, meaning the cheapest price entry is £66.

Chris Haymes of the 1958 group said: “We’re going to get people to sit in their seats.

“MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust) did a flash survey and they reckon there’s going to be about 7,000 concessions, OAP people, who are not going to renew their season tickets.

“So, they’re trying to price them out of their seats, so we’re going to tell you to sit in your seat, stay in your seat. That’s your seat that you paid for.”

The group, which describes the Glazers as “parasites” on their website, have collaborated with FC United for the first time following the establishment of the breakaway club in 2005.

1958 spokesman Steve Crompton admitted that the popularity of Manchester United has made mass protest harder to achieve.

“Tourist fans far outweigh legacy fans,” he said. “You are not going to get someone travelling halfway round the world not to go into a game.

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“Against Aston Villa [in April 2023] around 3,000 fans stayed out when the game started but optically, it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.”

Earlier in March, the 1958 organised a protest before the 1-1 draw with Arsenal which saw thousands of United fans create a near mile-long march to Old Trafford. The group also held a sit-in protest in August 2023.

The Glazers took over United in 2005 and loaded around £500 million of debt onto the club. Despite this, the family still take large dividends every year meaning the club’s debt is around £730 million.

Ratcliffe purchased 28.94% of the club last year, the largest share of any one person, and has been attempting to cut costs since his arrival.

A former team-mate of Ruben Amorim was shocked to find out that the Man Utd boss had become a coach after being “the changing room clown”.

The Red Devils identified the Portuguese head coach as the man to replace Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford in November after the Dutchman had overseen a poor start to the season.

However, things have not gone to plan for Amorim with performances and results worse under the new Man Utd boss than they were under his predecessor.

Amorim has been struggling to get his Man Utd squad to adapt to his playing style, philosophy and tactics, while the Red Devils are currently 13th in the Premier League.

That led to some very early sack speculation but Amorim now seems to have ridden that wave and he has the full backing of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the club’s board.

And now former Benfica team-mate Roderick Miranda – who played for Wolves in the Premier League – was surprised to see the ex-dressing room prankster become a Premier League manager.

Miranda, who now plays for Australian side Melbourne Victory, told Flashscore Australia: “I never thought he’d become a coach! Not because of his football skills or his intelligence, but because he was the changing room clown.

“He had a really fun personality and was always doing something to make people laugh.

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“When I heard he started as a coach I was a little bit surprised and wondered how the guy I played with could become so serious!

“But he was a very intelligent player. He could play in many different positions, so maybe that’s why he’s a brilliant coach, because he has such a great understanding of the game.”

Miranda played under Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo and is not surprised by the impact his former manager at Wolves is having.

He added: “I’m not really surprised about that because I always knew he was really good.

“If he finds the right players and the right atmosphere, he’s a coach who can produce this kind of stuff.”

Miranda continued: “At Wolves we had a couple of seasons where I think we finished sixth or seventh and got a Europa League spot, so he’s already shown what he can do.

“It’s therefore not really a big surprise for me. Maybe it is for other people, especially a club like Nottingham that hasn’t been a top club in the past, but not for me.”

Premier League directors will currently be drawing up plans for the summer transfer window, working out how much they can spend without breaking PSR rules, which in most cases won’t be nearly enough for the desired squad revamps.

They will need to buy to sell and these ten players would be doing their clubs a huge favour by handing in a transfer request ahead of the window.

Andre Onana (Manchester United)
He’s been the scapegoat through much of his time at Manchester United, and although we’ve been staunch defenders of him for no reason other than him actually being no worse (and often better) than the rest of the rabble, we will concede that Onana is probably not good enough to be the No.1 goalkeeper of a This Is Manchester United team if not the one we’ve enjoyed for a long while now.

He’s been linked with Saudi Arabia but believes he has more left in the tank before taking a money shower and reportedly has no desire to leave the club. United will be hoping AC Milan do them ‘a favour’ and tempt their former goalkeeper into also doing them a favour by handing in a transfer request.

Jadon Sancho (Chelsea)
After a dazzling display against Tottenham we briefly thought Chelsea may have nabbed the Borussia Dortmund version of Jadon Sancho for a snip, but he’s since reverted to his Premier League type which has led the Blues bosses to check the fine print of their loan agreement with Manchester United.

It’s claimed Chelsea can pay United £5m to avoid paying £25m for his transfer, but they’re also tempted by a cunning plan to buy Sancho and then immediately sell him to Dortmund for a sweet, sweet profit, which could essentially mean that United have paid Chelsea for a year of Sancho.

Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
One of many things wrong with the profit and sustainability rules and specifically the clear benefit of selling academy products is that players who in fact haven’t come up through the youth ranks at a club can count as pure profit, as is the case with Elliott, who joined Liverpool on a free transfer as a teenager from Fulham.

He’s barely played this season under Arne Slot and will surely (hopefully) look to leave in the summer without assurances from his manager over an increase in game time as a result of the Big Gun exodus. He’s currently valued at around £30m, which will be the purest of pure profits given Liverpool spent precious little to sign him and nothing on developing him into a first-team player.

Richarlison (Tottenham)
David Moyes looks set to be backed by the Friedkins in the summer and it’s thought in a bid to land a big-name player to open up Bramley-Moore Dock they could look to re-sign Richarlison.

Reports suggest Tottenham would be willing to part with the 27-year-old for £40m having signed him from Everton for £60m three years ago, but getting even that much feels hugely optimistic given Richarlison has missed more games through injury (58) than he’s started (44) in his time at Spurs.

Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal)
Amid various bids from Serie A for his services in the summer, Kiwior was told by Mikel Arteta and the club that he was “going to be an important player for them this season”. He’s started nine games across all competitions and just two in the Premier League. He’s been about as “important” as Raheem Sterling.

There was again interest in January but an absurd £45m price tag was slapped on Kiwior to ward off suitors and we get the sense that someone at Arsenal needs to sit Arteta down and explain that it’s OK not to have all the defenders, particularly when selling one or two of the surplus herd may help them to sign, what was it again? A striker?

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Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
We don’t know why Pep Guardiola has got such an aversion to Grealish these days. He claimed earlier in the season that he wanted “the treble Jack back” but quite why he’s so bothered by his supposed dip in level but doesn’t punish Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden or Ilkay Gundogan for what look to be greater drop-offs we don’t know.

Thomas Tuchel “loves” him and believes he can become a “machine” again, and we would like nothing more than to see Grealish take what will have to be quite the pay-cut to force through a move to Newcastle, regain his England place and help the Three Lions to World Cup glory. Football is more fun when he’s playing.

Leon Bailey (Aston Villa)
Two goals and four assists in over 2,000 minutes of football this season just isn’t enough for a forward playing for a Champions League club. Bailey was fine for Villa on the way to Europe’s top table but he’s not good enough now that they’ve made it and are fighting to remain there.

They would likely be able to recoup most of the £28m they spent to sign him from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021 and could do with getting his £120,000 per week off the wage bill given the concerning revenue ratio.

Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
He was linked with Bayern and Manchester United in January having grown frustrated with his Premier League watching brief, but he’s done sweet f*** all other than against whipping boys Southampton having been given the opportunity to start games in the absence of Nicolas Jackson.

He quite clearly couldn’t give two sh*ts about playing for Chelsea and isn’t cut out for the Premier League. But he will have admirers if he pushes for the exit, which he surely will, and the club will hope for a bidding war to get his price up to the £50m mark, which is wholly unreasonable on the basis of his displays this season but not if you consider what he did before his move to Stamford Bridge.

Casemiro (Manchester United)
The five-time Champions League winner, who was for a long time – mainly at Real Madrid and for six months at the start of his Manchester United career – heralded as one of the most dynamic and impactful defensive midfielders in world football, made the telling admission when recently asked about his future that “going to Carrington and Old Trafford every day and trying to do my best” is his “best quality”. He’s now no more than a £350,000 per week hype man.

And in what will be a concern for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his bureau of change, despite Casemiro’s name being included on Ruben Amorim BLACKLISTS and 427-man FIRE-SALES for the last two years, reports of his imminent exit have if anything died down as we approach the end of the season, with his insistence that “I want to play” presumably fighting a losing battle against the knowledge that he could just sit on his arse for a year and earn a further £18m.