Man United Confidential: REVEALED – United’s plan to maintain Bruno Fernandes, the younger goalkeeper on membership’s radar named and a lift for followers going to Bournemouth

Manchester United have told Bruno Fernandes that the club will do everything to keep him at Old Trafford this summer.

Fernandes rejected a move to Al-Hilal last June worth a staggering £700,000 a week, and revealed in December that he was ‘hurt’ United were prepared to sell him to the Saudi Pro League side for £100million. But after United re-affirmed that Casemiro will be allowed to leave at the end of his contract in three months’ time, sources have told Confidential that a unanimous decision has been made to try and keep Fernandes.

It’s understood that United’s talismanic captain has been informed of the club’s stance since he aired his concerns in a Portuguese TV interview before Christmas. The problems at United that peaked in January and cost Ruben Amorim his job were said to be weighing Fernandes down, but the 31-year-old has appeared much happier recently as he has led the revival under Michael Carrick.

Fernandes’ two assists in Sunday’s win over Aston Villa broke David Beckham’s record in a single season for United, and also put him in an elite club with Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney as the only three players to register a century of both goals and assists for the club in the Premier League era.

United only have so much control over Fernandes’ future because there is a release clause of £56.68m in his contract that can be triggered by foreign clubs. While that may deter some European teams from signing a player who turns 32 in September and has little resale value, it would not be a problem for the Saudis.

Al-Hilal were prepared to offer £100m because they were desperate to sign Fernandes for last year’s Club World Cup, which began in June before the clause came into effect, and there is expected to be renewed interest from the Middle East this summer.

Fernandes is known to have considered a move to one of Europe’s big five leagues, and sources close to the Portugal star say he will assess the situation after the World Cup.

If Fernandes stays at Old Trafford, United may have to offer him a new contract this summer. His current deal will have one year left to run, although the club have the option to extend it by another 12 months until June 2028.

United are trying to drive their wage bill down by offloading Casemiro, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, but they could increase Fernandes’ current £290,000-a-week salary without going close to top-earner Casemiro’s £375,000-a-week wages.

The Brazilian also starred against Villa on Sunday when he scored his seventh goal of the season, raising the possibility of United reversing their decision to let him go this summer. However, the club will stand by the announcement made in January.

Helsinki friendly confirmed

United are close to announcing plans for their European pre-season tour, but Confidential can confirm one of the match-ups. As first revealed by Daily Mail Sport, United will head to Helsinki this summer to take on Hollywood-backed Wrexham, themselves pushing for promotion to the Premier League right now.

While numerous top-flight sides are still committing to touring the US this summer despite concerns around World Cup fatigue in North America, United are instead prioritising multiple matches in Europe.

United and Wrexham faced off in San Diego in July 2023, and they will renew that rivalry on July 18 in Finland as part of their summer tour which is increasingly likely to include emerging young talents such as JJ Gabriel.

Wrexham are already lined up to take on Liverpool in New York City, as well as Leeds in Tampa and Sunderland in Philadelphia, with United the latest side to book a high-profile friendly against Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s side.

Carrick goes the extra yard

Michael Carrick’s commitment to United’s academy has led him to move the time of his press conference last week, travel down to Oxford for the FA Youth Cup, and also make impromptu appearances at academy meetings.

Confidential has been told that Carrick made a surprise appearance at an academy all-staff get-together recently, to the delight of everyone in the room. That meeting saw players and staff reflect on individual achievements, such as those graduating to the first team, as well as team success in competitions such as the FA Youth Cup.

‘In the recent meeting we had, because we couldn’t get to it straight after Christmas and we had a lot going on, we celebrated the debuts,’ academy director Stephen Torpey explained.

‘So, we had the boys at the front and asked them some questions about how it felt. We also celebrated the success of the staff that went and supported that as well. We asked them to come to the front and asked them some questions from the rest of the staff. What was an amazing part of that is Michael turned up.’

Carrick remains coy when asked what the future holds for him beyond the end of the season, but he’s conducting himself like a man who is planning for the long term.

Marc’s dark arts denial

As if missing out on winning the League Cup for the first time wasn’t bad enough for United women’s team, there were suggestions they resorted to underhand tactics in the 2-0 defeat by their old nemesis Chelsea at Ashton Gate on Sunday.

A video circulating on social media during the game appeared to show United assistant coach Dan Bale covering his mouth and saying something to Chelsea substitute Aggie Beever-Jones as she was getting ready to come on in the second half.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor was unaware of the interaction, but said after the game: ‘I will speak with Aggie and see, but also we had some other moments where sometimes I heard some comments. I will always be a manager who respects the opposition no matter what happened in the game – and it would be nice for everyone to do the same.’

However, United boss Marc Skinner denied any suggestion of wrongdoing on Tuesday morning as he defended his assistant and claimed there has been a misunderstanding.

‘I’m aware of a clip circulating online,’ said Skinner. ‘I think from our perspective, Dan’s gone to speak to the fourth (official), which you don’t see after that. When (the camera) pans and (Beever-Jones) disappears, he’s actually speaking to the fourth official.

‘I think he’s had a brief conversation with a Chelsea player and, look, I’ve heard conversations about intimidation, there’s nothing to do with that. I’ve got nothing but respect for Sonia, for her team, for the club and I think it’s just a small moment in an intense game where it’s been caught on camera, but there’s really nothing in it.

‘The reality was when (Chelsea’s) Nat Bjorn came off with her injury, I went straight up to her to ask her if she was all right. You often have conversations between players and coaches. We’re all one big family in terms of football. That’s the respect level.’

If there had been any attempt to put Beever-Jones off, it clearly didn’t work as the young English striker buried Chelsea’s second goal minutes later.

Fans get a free ride

Around 400 fans will benefit from United’s decision to offer free return coach travel to the Vitality Stadium for Friday’s game against Bournemouth.

The 500-mile round trip is the longest in the Premier League for United supporters, who would have been unable to get back to Manchester on public transport after the match was moved for the purposes of live coverage on Sky Sports. 

United stepped in to help, mindful that it is one of eight games this season that have been switched to a Friday or Monday.

The club have an allocation of around 1,300 tickets, so around a third of away supporters will take advantage of the free coaches to the game which will be United’s last for 24 days before hosting Leeds at Old Trafford on Monday, April 13.

The squad are due to fly to the South Coast on Friday afternoon after training, so Carrick has brought his pre-match press conference forward to Wednesday lunchtime. The United players will fly back straight after the game and have the rest of the weekend off, which gives the foreign contingent an opportunity to go home to see family and friends before reporting for international duty.

Reds eye keeper Kit

Tony Coton, the man credited with scouting Senne Lammens, was spotted in Flintshire recently running the rule over another young shot-stopper.

The youngster in question was Swansea goalkeeper Kit Margetson – son of former Manchester City keeper Martyn – who is on loan at Connah’s Quay Nomads.

With Crystal Palace and Liverpool among the other teams interested, Coton’s appearance on behalf of United created quite a buzz in North Wales.

Lammens a Foster fan

At a time where players and coaches are expected to do more media than ever before – particularly at United – it was refreshing to hear that Lammens sought out one very special interview.

Each week players are rotated to fulfil obligations with rights holders, and there are plenty of players who bristle at having to do a lot of media appearances. But Confidential understands that United’s No1 made a personal request to the club to organise a sit-down with Ben Foster for his Fozcast show at Carrington.

Lammens grew up watching Foster’s YouTube Cycling GK vlogs, and he became a source of inspiration for the young goalkeeper as he honed his game in Belgium.

Ryan’s Peek practice

Ryan Giggs is the latest ex-United player signing up to the new social media platform Peek, Confidential has learned.

We revealed in January that Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have joined Peek, which offers high-profile sports figures the opportunity to post their opinions in return for a share of the profits. Now fellow Class of ’92 alumnus Giggs is ready to jump on board, having recently been seen promoting International Women’s Day via his Instagram page on behalf of Asian betting company F168.

Scholes and Butt have certainly ruffled a few feathers around Old Trafford, so it will be interesting to see what they and Giggs post on Peek.

Scholes and Butt sparked a row with Lisandro Martinez ahead of the Manchester derby in January with comments about the United defender’s height on their podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football.

That was Carrick’s first game in charge, and Scholes appeared to aim a dig at his old team-mate when he branded United’s performance ‘c***’ after his only defeat in nine games at Newcastle. Carrick brushed off the controversy last week, while Butt claimed that Scholes was ‘shocked and gutted’ by the public backlash, insisting his comment had been misunderstood.

With Peek offering the former United players yet another platform, it won’t be long before they’re causing a stir again.

Holloway’s warning to Scanlon

All season there has been a general nervousness around Carrington about players going out on first-time loans. United have suffered in this area before with young prospects not getting minutes, or finding it tricky to adapt to the intensity of an EFL dressing-room where the stakes are far greater than any match at Under-21 level.

Now it’s the turn of James Scanlon to find out what he is made of after being publicly challenged by Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway who has left him out of the past three matchday squads. Asked about dropping the United youngster, Holloway was typically unfiltered in response.

‘We haven’t won, and we didn’t play well, so he’s come out,’ said the 63-year-old. ‘He has to show me why he’s here, which is the stuff that he’s got in his locker. And is he too young? Who knows? I have no idea. But I’m not seeing what I want to see from him in a way that I want to.

‘The last two days I’ve told him this and he’s looked a lot better. It’s his first-ever sojourn out into the real world of football from the nightmare of a situation where the Under-23s and Under-21s games don’t matter.’

Scanlon will miss upcoming games against Tranmere Rovers and Cambridge United while on international duty with Gibraltar, but it’s down to the 19-year-old to accept Holloway’s challenge.

Cameroon call-up for teen stars

Three United youngsters have been included in Cameroon’s Under 23s for a training camp in Spain this month – even though two of them are only 15 years old.

Twins Bassirou and Douka Nkoto will travel to Alaves along with Jayden Ngwashi, 17, after they were called up by coach Guy Feutchine in preparation for the 2027 Under-23s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

It could be Cameroon’s opportunity to secure the international allegiance of the three youngsters. Ngwashi, a centre back, has already played for England Under 18s and Italy Under 16s, while the Nkoto brothers have represented England at age-group level.

Douka has been impressing for Darren Fletcher’s Under 18s on the wing this season, while attacking midfielder Bassirou has recently returned from a long injury layoff.