Amorim determined to keep Fernandes at Man Utd despite Saudi interest

LONDON: Ruben Amorim has insisted he wants to keep Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes despite interest from Saudi Arabia, labelling the Portugal international “one of the top players in the world”.

The 30-year-old playmaker has been a key figure at Old Trafford since joining from Sporting Lisbon in 2020 and scored two goals in last week´s 3-0 Europa League semi-final first-leg win at Athletic Bilbao.

But the build-up to Thursday´s return fixture in Manchester has been dominated by talk that Saudi club Al-Hilal are poised to make a big-money offer for Fernandes. But Amorim, who said March he told Fernandes he was “not going anywhere” following links to Real Madrid, was similarly defiant amid talk of a post-season move to Saudi Arabia.

“I think it is easy to understand (his importance) -- not just because of the numbers but the way he plays, the importance that he has during his five years here,” United head coach Amorim told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

“He is a top player, we need top players. He is a leader, he´s the captain, so he´s really important. It´s normal that a lot of clubs want a player like Bruno, like (Alejandro) Garnacho, like others.

“But we want to keep the best players and Bruno is clearly one of the top players in the world, so our idea didn´t change. We want Bruno here.” Garnacho, meanwhile, says he is happy at Old Trafford as speculation intensifies over his future.

The 20-year-old United academy product has scored 26 goals in 140 appearances for the Red Devils, including during last May´s FA Cup final win over local rivals Manchester City. But Garnacho´s future is uncertain as United look to rebuild amid profit and sustainability restrictions, with Chelsea and Napoli expressing interest during the winter transfer window.

“Obviously as a footballer you are always going to read and listen to some rumours about the future,” Argentina international Garnacho, speaking alongside Amorim, said Wednesday.

“But I have a contract here until 2028, so I´m happy here.” United are well-placed in their last chance to win a trophy at the end of a disappointing season where the fallen kings of English football are currently a lowly 15th in the Premier League table after Portuguese boss Amorim replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November.

Not only are they 3-0 up after the first leg in Spain, with Fernandes´ double following Casemiro´s opening goal, but Bilbao also had Dani Vivian sent off. United´s Matthijs de Ligt, however, looks set to miss the second leg after sitting out training on the eve of Thursday´s semi-final.

The Netherlands international returned from a month out as a second-half substitute in Spain and went on to start in Sunday´s 4-3 loss away to Brentford, only to limp off after 35 minutes.