Bruno Fernandes to leave Man Utd? What Bayern Munich transfer rumours are really about

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 4 Jun 2024 07:25 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is the subject of transfer rumours linking him with a move to Bayern Munich this summer.

Bruno has said he doesn’t want to leave the club, manager Erik ten Hag certainly does not want him to depart while Man Utd see him as one of the few genuinely irreplaceable players in the squad.

Meanwhile, it’s worth stressing that Fernandes is unlikely to move to Bayern Munich. Where would he play? FCB already have one of the best central attacking midfielders in the form of Jamal Musiala occupying his natural role.

READ MORE: Man Utd Transfer News Today: ten Hag targets REVEALED and HUGE Casemiro offer

Current ETV

Bruno Fernandes

AM (CR), M (C)

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Bruno Fernandes

AM (CR), M (C)

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€64.5M

ETV Range

€48.3M - €80.6M

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Vincent Kompany inherits no shortage of problems at the Allianz Arena, but a high-quality playmaker is not one of these.

And yet, the very presence of transfer rumours linking Bruno to either Bayern or the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Nassr are reported by Caught Offside to be considering a €150 million bid, suggests that all is not entirely well. Fabrizio Romano even claims there have been talks.

How has the situation come to this?

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Why Bruno Fernandes is linked with a move away from Man Utd

The issue dates back two years when Bruno last signed a deal with Manchester United. It was a four-year agreement, with the problem being that the playmaker’s deal did not leave him among one of the better-paid players in the squad.

Even at this point, it was clear how important Fernandes was to the Red Devils, so it was a no-brainer from their perspective to do the deal.

He earns around £12.5 million per year, which is clearly a sizeable figure, yet is a smaller wage than the likes of Casemiro, Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford and even Anthony Martial, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho.

The captain’s wage is out of sync with what else is being paid at Old Trafford.

* leaving on a free transfer in July

It does not take a huge logical leap to suggest that the rumours linking Bruno with an improbable move to Bayern are being fuelled by an agent who wants his player to be offered a new and much-improved deal.

Equally, it’s difficult to argue the point that Fernandes deserves to be United’s best-paid player. The timing is good to force a deal, too. After all, two big earners in Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial are moving off the wage bill this summer, saving the club £30m annually.

What appears to have developed in the meantime is an arm wrestle between club, who have the player under contract for two more years, and agent, who made an error in failing to land Bruno the contract he deserved two years ago.

It’s unlikely there’s any serious desire on the part of the Man Utd captain to leave, with the rumours linking him to Bayern Munich more about getting him paid a salary he should have been on when they last negotiated two years ago.