Man Utd can’t stop best player leaving via ‘secret’ release clause worth LESS than price they paid | OneFootball

Manchester United are powerless to prevent their best player from leaving thanks to a release clause that has one condition attached, and the exact amount it’s worth has been revealed.

The mantle of Man Utd’s best player may eventually fall to Bryan Mbeumo or Matheus Cunha. Benjamin Sesko could yet have a thing or two to say in that conversation if he reaches his sky-high potential.

But for now at least, the honour firmly belongs to Bruno Fernandes who is a four-time Man Utd Player of the Year award winner.

The 31-year-old’s long-term future continues to be a talking point of late. With his own comments, he’s made it crystal clear he’s committed to Man Utd this season, while the BBC have confirmed he does NOT want to move to Saudi Arabia any time soon.

However, the BBC did stress he’d consider moving to a ‘major European league’ at season’s end. That was followed by the Daily Mail claiming Fernandes is ‘open’ to a new chapter next summer, if the right opportunity arises, of course.

Now, a fresh update from the Sun has brought news of Man Utd being unable to stop Fernandes from leaving if he pushes to leave and a club activates an as yet unreported release clause.

They claimed there is a ‘secret’ release clause in Fernandes’ contract that stipulates clubs from outside of the Premier League can sign the Portuguese for £57m.

Interestingly, £57m is actually below the £68m (add-ons included) Man Utd paid to sign Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon back in January of 2020.

Nevertheless, £57m would still represent a sizeable fee for a 31-year-old, and the question now is will anyone activate the clause?

Bayern Munich links emphatically dismissed

One club linked with moving for Fernandes in 2026 is Bundesliga powerhouse, Bayern Munich.

However, BILD chief, Christian Falk, recently detailed the two reasons why Bayern have zero interest in signing United’s best player.

The first reason relates to money. Figures anywhere between £40m-£70m had been touted for the transfer fee prior to the release clause reveal, but that’s not the real issue in this case.

Fernandes’ high salary – he earns roughly £300,000-a-week at Man Utd – is a hurdle Bayern don’t wish to overcome.

Bayern are reportedly attempting to slash their wage bill in the coming months and years, not increase it.

Secondly, Bayern still clearly view Fernandes as a No 10 and not a deep-relying central midfielder. The No 10 role is where Jamal Musiala will play when fully fit again and in his absence, Serge Gnabry has been doing a fine job of filling in.

Those claims throw up an obvious question – if Bayern don’t want a new playmaker, why were they in for Florian Wirtz last summer?

The answer there lays in the fact Wirtz is German and having both of Germany’s best players (Wirtz and Musiala) playing for Germany’s biggest team would have brought a whole host of other benefits.