Sporting Lisbon’s assistant coach Emanuel Ferro has said that everyone at the club still believes Bruno Fernandes will remain in Portugal until at least the end of the campaign.
There has been a huge amount of speculation over the 25-year-old’s future this month, with Manchester United appearing his most likely move.
However, a move has been held up by talks over the deal, with Sporting believed to want a minimum £55.3m while the Red devils don’t want to spend more than £42.5m up front.
And Fernandes has appeared to pour further cold water on the rumours by claiming nobody at the club is thinking about Fernandes’ exit.
‘’There is a lot of talk about him leaving,” he is quoted by A Bola .
“I believe that outside people feel this more than us. We don’t feel it. We don’t feel Bruno’s thinking about leaving. He is competitive and involved.”
Fernandes himself is thought to be keen on moving to England, and told Sporting he was ‘desperate’ to join United.
With the move for Fernandes appearing complicated to complete, some have said that United should look elsewhere, including Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson, who thinks they should target Jack Grealish instead.
“Forget Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United should be trying to sign Jack Grealish,” Merson said in his Daily Star column.
“He is one of the top ten players in the Premier League right now. He is absolutely different class and would walk into almost any other Premier League team.
“Bruno Fernandes is a full international. He’s had clubs all over Europe looking at him. But he’s never played in this league before. Grealish has. And he’s ripping it up every week.”
