Fabrizio Romano shares update on Bruno Fernandes to Saudi Arabia, Man Utd have clear stance

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Without Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United might have been knocking on the door of a relegation battle this season.

As terrible as the 2024/25 campaign has been for Manchester United, one player has been as reliable as ever and casually racked up a huge 19 goals and 18 assists in all competitions.

This would be a strong season for anyone in world football, never mind a player in a team sitting 15th in the Premier League.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
13	WolvesWolves	35	12	5	18	51	62	-11	41
14	EvertonEverton	35	8	15	12	36	43	-7	39
15	Man UtdManchester United	35	10	9	16	42	51	-9	39
16	TottenhamTottenham	35	11	5	19	63	57	6	38
17	West HamWest Ham	35	9	10	16	40	59	-19	37

This season has been the best individually of Bruno Fernandes‘ United career. At times, he has been a true one-man team, but he is honestly irreplaceable right now, establishing himself as a real legend of the club.

Fernandes has broken countless records for United this season, and despite all the pain, could conclude the season by lifting the Europa League trophy two weeks on Thursday.

While United winning the Europa League wouldn’t make this season acceptable, it would secure Champions League football and also be a third trophy in three years.

Despite having this to look forward to, assuming United finish off Athletic Club on Thursday, now fans have been shaken by claims of Fernandes potentially being set to exit the club.

• READ MORE: Who is Bruno Fernandes? Inside the life of Manchester United’s Portuguese Magnifico

Al Hilal plotting swoop for Bruno Fernandes this summer

It was around May of 2024 when the club captain was linked with a United exit, with Saudi Arabia the destination. This move ultimately was not on the cards as Fernandes signed a new three-year United contract back in August 2024.

Fernandes had indicated that as long as United wanted him, he’d stay, and he proved that with the contract and has been even better since. Despite this, there has been interest in Fernandes by Real Madrid, and now Saudi Arabia is once again linked with a sale, almost certainly, becoming United’s record transfer sale.

It has been reported by Chris Wheeler and the Daily Mail that Fernandes is the target of a big-money swoop from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. This came after claims in Saudi Arabia from Al-Riyadh newspaper journalist Al Hanyan that Fernandes’ agent was meeting with the club to discuss the deal.

The Mail adds that Al-Hilal are looking for a blockbuster addition after missing out on Mohamed Salah and also losing Neymar in recent memory.

In addition, Saudi outlet Ar Riyadiyah has suggested that Al-Hilal believes that there is a release clause they can trigger in Fernandes’ contract, which would be an interesting development as to how much this might be.

But despite all the talk, what do United think about possibly selling Fernandes?

• READ: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2025/26

What is Manchester United’s stance on selling Bruno Fernandes?

While Fernandes turns 31 this year, he is simply unsellable for United, because no player in the world could fill the gap he would leave in Ruben Amorim’s team.

So, as much as clubs can want him, United won’t be keen to sell, and now Fabrizio Romano has confirmed this, admitting that United are insisting that their clear message is that Fernandes will remain.

Romano explains that Fernandes has been wanted by the Saudi Private Investment Fund (PIF), which runs the league and teams, for two years now, but within Old Trafford, the goal remains to keep him.

Amorim is known to be a big fan of Fernandes, with the 40-year-old considering his captain to be crucial to the United project and doesn’t want him to depart the club. The message of Fernandes not being for sale is universal within reports from various sources such as the Mail and Romano.

Of course, a release clause would change everything, but Fernandes loves the club and will surely want to keep playing European football in advance of the 2026 World Cup.