For one of the midfielders reportedly on Manchester United’s radar ahead of the summer transfer window, a move to the Premier League can wait.
Maybe one day. Maybe in the future. But not now.
The Manchester United-linked enforcer is loving life at his current employers, winning the league title and now just 90 minutes away from sealing a domestic double.
The Red Devils may have to look elsewhere in their pursuit of a long-term Casemiro replacement, with the man who succeeded Joao Palhinha in Sporting Lisbon’s engine room in no mood to follow his fellow ball-winner to English football. Or, at least, not yet anyway.
Morten Hjulmand rules out Manchester United move
“I haven’t thought about it (a transfer),” Morten Hjulmand tells Record. “There are rumours all the time about different players, coaches and clubs. It’s normal.
“It’s not something a player should waste energy or time on. We need to have our minds focused elsewhere: here, on our day-to-day lives, when we have so many games to play.”
“I can say that this time at Sporting has been incredible. I really enjoy coming to train every day, I like living in Portugal and I still have a long-term contract with Sporting. Of course I want to stay at the club!”
“Maybe one day it will be the right time to go to the Premier League. But I’m very happy where I am now and with my life at Sporting.”
Hjulmand’s Sporting side take on FC Porto in the Taca de Portugal final just one day after Man United face Man City in the FA Cup decider at Wembley.
The former Lecce captain has been a massive part of Sporting’s success under Ruben Amorim. A tally of 12 yellow cards is testament to the aggression and the doggedness in which Hjulmand brings to the table, the Denmark international justifying his £69 million release clause and also earning the admiration of former Sporting talisman Bruno Fernandes along the way.
“The two in midfield… I love Sporting’s midfield,” Fernandes tells A Bola. “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.”
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Casemiro must be replaced at Old Trafford
The arrival of a disciplined, defensively-minded number six – if not Hjulmand then potentially another – would free up Fernandes to do what he does best in the final third while giving United’s often ramshackle midfield the balance they are crying out for.
Fernandes has also spoke in glowing terms about Hjulmand’s fellow Primeira Liga star, Joao Neves. With a release clause in his contract in excess of £100 million, however, United fans may be advised against holding their breath the former Benfica whizzkid’s arrival either.
“I don’t know if United rumours are true,” Fernandes said, in conversation with SportTV. “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.”
Casemiro has enjoyed some of his better Man United performances during a fraught 2023/24 in the final week of the season, impressing in wins over Newcastle and Brighton and Hove Albion.
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