According to the latest reports, Premier League giants Manchester United will be announcing the arrival of Sporting CP midfielder Bruno Fernandes in the upcoming summer transfer window as their second signing after the Nation League Finals. The first signing that United will be completing is that of Daniel James from Championship side Swansea City in a reported £18m deal.
The Red Devils have had quite a season to forget this campaign as they finished in sixth place on the Premier League table and without any positives to showcase. Initially, Manchester United began the season with Jose Mourinho in charge of the club but the United faithful did not take too kindly with the 56-year-old manager because of his defensive tactics and philosophy. With no results and the football lacking conviction, the writing was on the wall for Mourinho and a 3-1 defeat to fierce rivals Liverpool back in December was the final nail in the coffin for the ‘Special One’ and he was sacked just a few days later. Manchester United then turned to a familiar face in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to handle the reins at least for a temporary basis to stabilize the ship and prevent it from sinking further.
The 46-year-old instantly began to pull out the magic rabbits from the hat and exceeded expectations when he initially took charge of Manchester United. Solskjaer guided the English club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in dramatic fashion as United dumped Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain by winning 3-1 at the Parc Des Princes after trailing 2-0 from the first leg.
Manchester United also began stringing up positive results in the Premier League as they pushed themselves in close contention to finishing inside the top four. Solskjaer was then awarded a three-year contract by United but the results have not gone their way ever since. La Liga champions Barcelona knocked out Manchester United from the Champions League and the Red Devils suffered a few humiliating results in the Premier League including a final match-day 2-0 loss to already relegated Cardiff City. The Norwegian boss Solskjaer now has a massive task on his hands to resurge United and bring them back to the top.
For starters, the Red Devils will have to look into the summer transfer window in order to bring in top-class players to strengthen his squad and has already snapped up a deal for Daniel James this summer. The 20-time champions are now looking to add another top midfielder in the form of Sporting CP star Bruno Fernandes. United are reportedly prepared on splashing out £72m to lure the Portuguese star to Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old Fernandes has managed to score a tally of 26 goals and notched up 13 assists as well, across all competitions last season and helped his national team qualify for the Nations League Final as well. The Manchester based side were set to confirm the deal today, a day after Portugal’s final against the Netherlands, which the former won 1-0 and lifted the inaugural UEFA Nations League title.
