Revealed: Bruno Fernandes spoke to Cristiano Ronaldo about 'massive money' move to Saudi Arabia as Man Utd captain explains why he stayed at Old Trafford

Ronaldo became the most high-profile player to move to the Saudi Pro League when he joined Al-Nassr in 2023 soon after leaving United. But Fernandes would have become arguably the second biggest name to head to Saudi had he accepted Al-Hilal's offer to sign him in the summer, which would have seen United bank between £80m-£100m. Fernandes ultimately turned down the offer because he wanted to stay at United and continue competing in the Premier League but he admitted that he approached Ronaldo first.

"I spoke with Cristiano about the situation, about Saudi and everything," Fernandes told reporters ahead of his 300th game with United. "I wouldn’t say what he told me, but we spoke about it. Obviously, he now has a manager that also spoke with me at the time (Jorge Jesus, his former coach at Sporting CP). He was at Al-Hilal three years ago, the first thing he said to me, ‘Are you too expensive for the club?’ I said, ‘There is no expensive players for that club!’ But I told him the same, I wasn’t eager to move, to go to Saudi because I wanted to stay at the club. And he’s a manager I have a great relationship with. He was the one who trusted me to go to Sporting and to play on the biggest stages. But Cristiano told me, he had his opinion on what I should do. It was important for me, obviously, with all the experience he has and everything, it was important for me to hear what he thought. But obviously the decision will always come to me and to the club."

The offer from Al-Hilal came in just after United had lost to Tottenham in the Europa League final, while the Red Devils were on their post-season tour of Asia. Fernandes told Amorim about it and asked the coach's opinion but he was quickly made to feel that he was a big part of the team's future. 

"The manager spoke with me. He said I was still part of the project. He wanted me to stay. The club said the same. And I always said that if the club was like ‘Bruno, we want to cash in, you are 30 years old. We want to make some money. We don't think you can be part of the future project’ or whatever. I would be like, OK, I have to find a solution for myself, whatever is best for me and my family. And I will leave. But obviously that wasn't the case. I felt that I was still part of the plan, that I could still help the club to achieve whatever was our aims. And that's what made me stay. Obviously, I have a big connection with the fans, with the club, also the country. My family feels very well here."

Fernandes admitted that he was offered a staggering salary by Al-Hilal and he said that the club were not pleased when he ultimately chose to reject their advances. "I don’t think they were very happy for me to reject the offer, obviously," he said. "I accept that, because the offer was very good in terms of salary. Everything was massive for me. It was a huge difference." 

The midfielder was unsure whether Al-Hilal or another Saudi club would  try and sign him next summer but he claimed he would make the same decision and say no once more. "No, it will be the same situation," he insisted. "As I've always said, I feel good here. I want to achieve my dreams still. But obviously I can't talk by the side of the club. I've seen a lot of news. I've seen a lot of people talking that I had an agreement to go already next season. If the club has done that agreement, it wasn't made with me. So I haven't spoken with anyone. 

"I could tell you that there are still people talking to me and saying that they will be very eager to have me next year, of course. But from my side, that's not talked about. Because my agent also knows how I work, so if he wants to talk to me, it will be after the World Cup. Because until then, I won't speak to anyone."

United boss Amorim said Fernandes had a different personality to the one he had imagined and praised his will to win. He said of his captain: "He is a little bit different to what I was expecting. Everything you read about the players sometimes is not that. He wants to help a lot the team-mates, sometimes it's not in the best way but it comes from a good place. He wants the responsibility all the time. He suffers a lot with the losses and you can see he takes it personally as he should as a captain."

Fernandes has won just two trophies in more than five years at United, lifting the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. He has proved to be the club's most pivotal player in that period but he said what mattered most was winning trophies, not standing out as the best individual.

He said: "You can be as good as you want individually, but you always need whatever is around you. Because obviously I want to be the best version of myself as I can, I want to play as many games as I can, score as many goals, assists, everything. But at the same time I need to understand that without them I won't go anywhere. 

"Probably people will say, yeah, Bruno's doing very well and everything, but that's not what I want. Obviously I want people to say good things about me, I would be lying if I say no, but I want the team achievements, because that will be massive for me also, it will make me, in the eyes of people, be a better player also. I think that's what's missing in my time at United, that we do something as a club, something bigger, for all of us to get those good things that people want to say about us."