Bruno Fernandes was glowing in his praise for the Manchester United linked Benfica starlet Joao Neves this week – but he is not the only Old Trafford transfer target who has earned the admiration of the Red Devils captain.
Four-and-a-half years after pulling off the finest signing of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, could lightning strike twice – or even thrive – for Manchester United?
The now-Ineos controlled Premier League giants are reportedly planning to return to the Primeira Liga in pursuit of more potentially transformative signings. And it’s fair to sayJoao Neves would arrive with the backing of one Bruno Fernandes.
“I don’t know if United rumours are true,” Fernandes told SportTV of the teenager with a £104 million release clause in his contract. “But I know he is ready for that big jump.
“He is an excellent player. He is with the National team (and) that’s also why the big clubs are after him.”
Bruno Fernandes hails Manchester United targets
Morten Hjulmand, another of the Primeira Liga’s most impressive midfield performers, would not set United back quite so much as Neves, even if his own release clause – standing at £69 million – cannot be considered cheap by anyone’s standards.
But the bone-rattling Dane, the man who stepped into Joao Palhinha’s steel-capped boots at Fernanes’ old employers Sporting Lisbon, could be worth every penny. Particularly if the 24-year-old – almost a decade Casemiro’s junior – can be to United what, say Rodri is to Man City or Fabinho was to Liverpool in the number six spot.
“The two in midfield… I love Sporting’s midfield,” Fernandes now tells A Bola ahead of Portugal’s meeting with Sweden on Thursday. “I love (Hidemasa ) Morita and Hjulmand.
“They’re two vital players in Sporting’s game, especially when they have to have more of the ball and be more tactically organised.”
Man United may need a Casemiro replacement
Hjulmand, the former Lecce captain, has been mentioned as a potential United target by the English press amid suggestions that Facundo Pellistri could move in hte other direction. The hugely-reliable Muppetiers YouTube channel, meanwhile, insists that Hjulmand is a player United have been watching ahead of a potential link-up with Denmark team-mate Rasmus Hojlund at Old Trafford.
Fernandes is also full of praise for Goncalo Inacio – the United-linked centre-half – and Sporting’s 36-goal talisman Viktor Gyokeres. Gyokeres worked briefly with the club’s incoming technical director Dan Ashworth at Brighton.