Arsenal legend Ian Wright has criticized Manchester United’s handling of the Bruno Fernandes transfer saga in the summer, saying he would take him to the Emirates Stadium.
The Portuguese has been an integral part of Man Utd’s squad in recent years, and surprisingly the club seemed open to letting him go.
Wright admits he’s surprised the Red Devils haven’t done anything about it, and the pundit told Overlap they should have made it clear to Fernandes how important he is to their project.
How is the situation of Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United?
Wright’s claims follow Fernandes himself coming out and criticizing the club for making him feel unwanted.
“I could have left in the last transfer window, I would have received more money, I would have left last season – I won’t say where – but I would have won more trophies that season,” he told Canal 11, as quoted by Metro.
“I decided to stay, also for family reasons, but because I sincerely love the club.” The conversation with the manager also made me stay.
“But, from the side of the team, I felt like, ‘if you leave, it’s not so bad for us.’
“It hurts me, more than it hurts, it hurts me because I am a player who doesn’t criticize anything.
“I’m always there, I’m always playing, good or bad. I give myself everything. Then, you see things around you, players who don’t value the club very much and don’t protect the club very much… that hurts you.”
Ian Wright criticizes Man United for the management of Bruno Fernandes
Wright was clearly not impressed with the way United went about it, and has admitted he will take Fernandes to Arsenal tomorrow.
One imagines the Gunners striker is not the only fan of the north London giants to feel that way, as Fernandes is clearly a top player in the Premier League and one of the few bright stars in this struggling United squad.
“If you look at Bruno’s quotes, it goes back to when Man United were uncertain. So there’s a candidate for Bruno Fernandes last summer… he closed that,” Wright said.
“He didn’t want to leave. Bruno actually says the club has left, ‘it’s up to you if you want to leave’. That’s not what you want to hear when you’re the sole owner of the club.
“You want the club to say, ‘you’re not going anywhere, you’re a big part of this’ But Manchester United didn’t do that.
They gave him an option and said, ‘if you want to go, you can go.’ What does that mean to him? I’ll take him tomorrow.”
Bruno Fernandes is still very important to Man United
The stats below from FotMob show just how important Fernandes still is to United, even if he hasn’t developed.
Fernandes still leads MUFC in assists, as well as being second in goals, and their highest ranked player of all time.
Overall, a record of five goals and seven assists from midfield remains as good as any player in the world can offer in that position.
Wright will no doubt be delighted to see his former club Arsenal top the table, but if there’s one type of player Mikel Arteta’s side are missing it’s a quality goalscorer and central midfielder.
Martin Odegaard used to provide that for the Gunners on a consistent basis, but the goals have dried up for him in recent times, and he has also had ongoing injury problems.
