Bruno Fernandes bid an emotional farewell to Sporting CP on Wednesday night ahead of his impending move to Manchester United, pledging that he will always be a ‘Lion’.
The Portugal international then travelled from Lisbon to Manchester on a private jet and will officially complete his £68m (including add-ons) transfer following a medical on Thursday.
Take good care of our boy, @ManUtd 🙏 pic.twitter.com/AKvEJcnxc4
— Sporting CP_en (@SportingCP_en) January 29, 2020
Fernandes, who has played at least four or five ‘final’ games for Sporting since the summer, wiped away the tears as he recorded a goodbye message for the club’s in-house media.
With so many previous false dawns about an imminent departure, even in just the last two weeks alone, these tears and this goodbye were at last justified.
“I’d like people to remember me in a positive way, and that's how I’ll always remember Sporting. I’m not a lion by birth, but I will be from now on,” he said.
Bruno Fernandes despediu-se do Sporting em lágrimas.
— KB24 (@B24PT) January 29, 2020
(via @Sporting_CP) pic.twitter.com/LWOMdgqz9k
The not from ‘birth’ comment refers to the fact that Porto-born Fernandes had no prior connection to Sporting before his 2017 arrival from Sampdoria. His early career was spent in the Boavista ranks, before he took the plunge to move to Italy at 17 to join Novara in Serie B.
Fernandes later spent three seasons at Udinese, before one final year in Italy with Sampdoria. It was then that Sporting came calling, paying a reported fee of just €8.5m for the midfielder.
The 2018/19 season was what put Fernandes on the map. He managed 50 combined goals and assists in all competitions and was the subject of much transfer speculation last summer, with links to United, Tottenham and also Real Madrid.
Bruno Fernandes is coming... 🛫🔴⚡️ #MUFC #ManUnited #transfers pic.twitter.com/mXpU4mhcpX
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 29, 2020
United and Real passed at that time and Tottenham were unable to agree a deal with Sporting. But more solid interest from Manchester resurfaced earlier this month and the last couple of weeks have filled solid with talk of ongoing negotiations between United and Sporting.
That deal was finally agreed on Wednesday night – Sporting released the exact breakdown of the numbers involved – which will almost certainly make Fernandes the biggest signing of the January transfer window in 2020.
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Source : 90min