Bruno Fernandes has revealed that Manchester United were not the only Premier League club pushing to sign him before his move to Old Trafford.
The Portuguese midfielder eventually joined United during the January transfer window in 2020 in a deal worth up to £67.6 million.
Since then, Fernandes has become one of the club’s most important players in the post-Ferguson era. Also, he recently broke the Premier League record for assists in a single season.
However, things could have looked very different for both Manchester United and the midfielder.
Before arriving at Old Trafford, Fernandes came extremely close to joining another top-six Premier League side.
Tottenham Hotspur strongly pursued the Sporting CP captain during the summer of 2019. They saw Fernandes as a long-term replacement for Christian Eriksen.
Spurs internally viewed Fernandes and Giovani Lo Celso as the ideal players to reshape their midfield.
Eventually, Tottenham signed Lo Celso, while Eriksen surprisingly remained at the club until January 2020. Now, Fernandes himself admitted the move to North London nearly happened.
Speaking on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Fernandes revealed Tottenham were extremely close to completing an agreement.
However, Sporting refused to sell him because they still needed him for the upcoming season.
The midfielder also admitted he desperately wanted to move to the Premier League. He always considered it the best and most competitive league in world football.
Still, despite Tottenham’s serious interest, Fernandes admitted Manchester United always remained his dream club in England.
Since arriving at United, Fernandes established himself as one of the Premier League’s elite midfielders despite periods of criticism surrounding the team’s performances.
Now, after rewriting Premier League assist records and captaining Manchester United back into the Champions League, Fernandes’ near-move to Tottenham feels like one of football’s biggest transfer what-ifs in recent years.
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