Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has now spoken out about Tottenham Hotspur’s interest in signing him.
The Portuguese midfielder has now established himself as one of the Premier League’s real marmite players with fans divided on the 29-year-old.
Midfield is an area which Ange Postecoglou has been looking to address since he arrived at Tottenham last summer.
James Maddison was brought in to bolster the attacking side of the midfield with the playmaker seen as the eventual heir to Christian Eriksen’s throne in north London.
But work is still needing to be done this summer with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg expected to depart over the coming weeks when the window opens.
And it seems back in 2019, Spurs came seriously close to bringing in the Portugal international after he impressed during his time at Sporting CP.
What Bruno Fernandes said about proposed move to Tottenham in 2019
Daniel Levy is believed to have put forward an offer in the region of £60m for Fernandes but that was knocked back by Sporting.
Three bids were said to have been lodged for the midfielder who ended up joining Manchester United in the following transfer window.
The Red Devils’ deal for Fernandes is said to be and initial £47m with the possibility of it rising all the way up to £67.7m with add-ons.
Speaking to The Players’ Tribune, Fernandes spoke of his excitement when he had heard Spurs were interested in signing him.
“You need to understand a bit about my situation. The previous summer, there were some rumors about Premier League clubs being interested in me, but the only thing that was concrete was Tottenham,” he said.
“It feels weird to me now, but at the time, I was excited. One of my life goals was to play in the Premier League. I tried to block out all the noise, but in the age we are living in, with social media and phones and text, of course my friends let me know about the rumours.
“As a kid from Portugal, you can’t help but dream a bit about playing at the big grounds in England. In the end, the clubs couldn’t reach an agreement, and the deal fell apart. It was a complicated emotion, but I was really happy at Sporting.”
Bruno Fernandes could have transformed Tottenham’s midfield
Since landing in the Premier League, Fernandes has proven himself to be one of Europe’s highest-performing midfielders in what has been a hugely underwhelming period in United’s history.
In the five seasons he has provided double figure goal contributions in each of his Premier League campaigns.
Statistics via FBRef.
It has to be said he could have provided Tottenham with a real boost in the middle at a time when Eriksen was headed for the door.
And if nothing else, it would have stopped him netting three goals and providing two assists in his games against Spurs.