Man Utd eyeing Morgan Gibbs-White as potential Bruno Fernandes replacement in bid to trim wage bill

While he has arguably been United's best player since his arrival in 2020, Fernandes' future at Old Trafford is far from certain. The 31-year-old has given his peak years to the Red Devils and has an FA Cup and a Carabao Cup to show for it, but speculation has suggested he could depart in the summer for a new challenge. He has been linked with the Saudi Pro League and Real Madrid, though a move to the latter was recently debunked.

One player who has been tipped to replace Fernandes is Chelsea star Cole Palmer, with former United striker Louis Saha recently revealing his admiration for the England star's versatility.

He said: "It would be incredibly exciting to see Cole Palmer at Manchester United. He's not a Man City player anymore... He can play pretty much anywhere in attack.

"He has managed to play in the Chelsea side with maybe 10 different types of forwards and has still been the main man. So that shows how reliable he is.

"If Bruno Fernandes does leave Man Utd, Cole Palmer would be the perfect replacement. He is an exciting player and is still young, he has energy and confidence that would fit in perfectly at Old Trafford."

The Daily Mail now claim United have joined a number of Premier League rivals in monitoring Gibbs-White, though it is immediately added that the club do not want to breach a newly introduced pay scale. Headline summer arrivals Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko all penned contracts with salaries in the range of £150,000 a week and Gibbs-White would be expected to sign to similar terms if he wanted to make the move.

Gibbs-White enjoyed a stellar 2024-25 season as Forest qualified for the Europa League under former manager Nuno Espirito Santo, scoring seven goals and supplying eight assists in 34 Premier League appearances. His numbers are decent for the current campaign, striking six times in England's top flight, while he recently scored his first European goals of the season in the impressive victory at Fenerbahce last week.

Fernandes, meanwhile, is in danger of recording his lowest goal haul in a season for United. The Portugal international needs four more to draw level with the ten he scored in all competitions back in 2021-22, when United started the season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager and ended it with Ralf Rangnick in charge. 

One of United's biggest goals this summer will be to trim their wage bill by getting rid of some unwanted players. The club has already confirmed midfielder Casemiro will leave at the end of the season, while it is hoped that Barcelona will decide to turn Marcus Rashford's loan into a permanent move following his loan move to Camp Nou.

Jadon Sancho, who is thought to make around £250,000 a week, will also depart when his contract expires, while Harry Maguire may have to take a pay cut if he is to remain a United player beyond the current season.

United won't be the only team interested in a move for Gibbs-White, especially if Forest are relegated from the Premier League. Tottenham looked like they were closing in on a deal for the 26-year-old last summer, only for negotiations to break down when Gibbs-White signed a new contract at the City Ground.

Local rivals Manchester City are another side known to hold an interest in Gibbs-White and would also be able to offer him greater wages if they wanted him at the Etihad Stadium.