Bruno Fernandes has rejected a huge offer from Saudi Pro-League club Al-Hilal.
Fernandes has spent the past few days seriously considering the deal which would have more than doubled his salary at Manchester United, where he is one of the biggest earners.
However, after discussing the matter with his family, Fernandes has informed Al-Hilal he will not be joining them.
It is likely he will be asked about the situation later on Tuesday, when he is expected to conduct a pre-match press conference in Germany before Portugal’s Nations League semi-final on Wednesday.
United are understood to be delighted by the news, which came after head coach Ruben Amorim on Friday expressed his belief that Fernandes would remain at Old Trafford.
There were no direct conversations between United and Al-Hilal, so they were never presented with a bid they could turn down.
However, it was expected Al-Hilal were prepared to offer between £80m and £100m to sign the 30-year-old in time for this month’s Club World Cup.
It is not clear whether they will now pursue new targets.
Fernandes has made 290 appearances and scored 98 goals for the club since his £47m move from Sporting in January 2020.
Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville told Sky Sports he believes the transfer would not have been a poor deal for the Old Trafford club but added: “He’s so important.
“The fact that he wants to stay, the fact that he wants to go through this and come out the other side, because it would have been easy for him at the end of this season to say, ‘Look, I’m done here,’ will endear him towards Manchester United fans even more.
“To turn that money down at a point where Manchester United are at their lowest ebb and say, ‘No, I want to fight through this, I want to see it through the other side, I want to come out and achieve things,’ I think it says a lot about him as a person, as a character.
“The club needs people who are going to run through a brick wall for them.”
Source: bbc.com
