Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has urged the Red Devils to give Bruno Fernandes ‘anything he wants’ to stay at the club amid continued links to Saudi Arabia.
The United skipper proved once again at the weekend how pivotal he is to his team, picking up two assists as Michael Carrick’s men beat Aston Villa 3-1 to strengthen their grip on Champions League qualification.
Fernandes has been an ever-present this season under both Ruben Amorim and Carrick, often proving to be a beacon of light and hope when times have been tough. Widely regarded as United’s best player, there continue to be links with the Portuguese moving away, and he revealed in December that the club wanted to offload him in the summer, with a number of Saudi clubs interested.
In a bombshell interview, Fernandes, who revealed he spoke to Cristiano Ronaldo about a potential switch to Saudi Arabia, said in December: ‘Manchester United wanted me to leave, I have that in my head. I think they didn’t have the courage because Ruben Amorim wanted me here, but from the club’s side I felt that if I left, it wouldn’t be so bad.
‘Cristiano advised me, but the final decision always rested with me. I decided to stay because I genuinely love the club, but loyalty isn’t as well regarded as it once was.’
And, as the end of the season and another summer transfer window approaches, Butt told The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast that the club should, in fact, be trying to keep their star man at all costs.
Nicky Butt has urged Manchester United to give Bruno Fernandes (pictured) ‘anything he wants’ to stay at the club
Butt (pictured) praised Fernandes’ performances during tough times for United this season
‘Man United cannot let him go, no matter what it costs them,’ Butt said. ‘They cannot let Bruno Fernandes go. They’ll have to give him anything he wants to keep him because if they let him go the fans will go absolutely nuts.’
Speaking on the midfielder, who is contracted at the club until the end of next season, he added: ‘It’s no coincidence that he’s now playing where he should have been playing for the last two years and he’s playing unbelievably well and creating chances. His pass for the second goal (versus Villa) is an unbelievable pass.
‘I think I was part of a few people who criticised him a little bit, not because of his performances and his playing but as a captain as leader because I’m old school and I look at captains like Tony Adams, Brian Robson, Roy Keane.
‘What he’s always done is created and scored goals and he’s carried that football team pretty much on his own for I’d say a good two years, two seasons.’
He did, however, stop short of giving Fernandes a spot in his all-time United XI – but that’s down to who he would be up against rather than the No8 himself.
‘I can see why they’re saying that talent-wise, but the problem I’ve got with that is who do you leave out and where’d you put him?’ Butt said. ‘Are you going to play him before (Eric) Cantona, (Paul) Scholes, (Brian) Robson, (Roy) Keane?
‘It’s a no in my eyes but that’s not taking anything away from his talent – he is an unbelievable footballer and they did talk about him being player of the year this year and I can see why.
‘Up until when Michael (Carrick) took over, he was playing in a team that were really poor and not performing but he was the only one performing and now the team have got better under Michael and are getting results he just looks like an unbelievable player.’
Fernandes revealed last year that he felt United wanted him to leave the club in the summer
One midfielder who will almost certainly be departing Old Trafford in the summer is Casemiro, who has played alongside Fernandes on a number of occasions in the United team.
The Brazilian’s deal will come to an end after this season, and it has been revealed that it will not be renewed. After a tough first couple of years, he has come into his own this season, and also received high praise from Butt.
‘I tell you what as well, and I probably talked him down a little bit over the last season or two because I did think his legs had gone, but Casemiro has just got a second lease of life,’ he said. ‘It’s unbelievable.
‘Seven goals he scored this year. People who always said they loved him are speaking bulls*** – six or seven months ago it looked like his legs had gone it looked like couldn’t get about the pitch but when you’re playing with people that you know where they’re going to be and then the rightful positions, it’s amazing how it kicks on.
‘So you put Bruno away from him, a bit more advanced or to the side of him, he just passes the ball to Bruno all the time and he puts the finishing pass through. But he has been brilliant in the last 10 games.’
