Man Utd retain Ronaldo advantage as £64m ‘next Vitinha’ offers 13-word transfer boost | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo’s glorious, trophy-laden first spell at Manchester United ended 17 years ago, but his Old Trafford legacy is boosting the Red Devils’ chances of landing one of their top transfer targets this summer.

Ronaldo won seven major trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson, including three Premier League titles and the Champions League, and won the first of his five Ballon d’Or gongs while playing for the Red Devils.

Matheus Cunha declared his “love” for United before moving to the club last summer having grown up watching Ronaldo and that very best Sir Alex-era Red Devils side that took the Premier League and Europe by storm.

Those glory years are a fading advantage for United in the transfer market. It won’t be long before the up-and-coming young stars United are targeting in their bid to return to the top table were enduring the relative David Moyes, Louis van Gaal atrocities in their peak years of football obsession.

But Mateus Fernandes offers hope of the Ronaldo legacy stretching beyond back (or forward?!) to capture the attention of individuals who surely couldn’t have had a real grasp of the wonderful football being played by that dominant and brilliant United team.

Captain Bruno Fernandes is reportedly keen for United to sign his namesake, who’s been one of the standout performers for West Ham in their relegation battle having moved from Southampton for £38m last summer.

Described as “the next Vitinha” by *checks notes* James Cordon, Fernandes – valued at £64m by the Hammers – is widely expected to move on to bigger and better things this summer, with United chief among the clubs looking to sign him, according to transfer expert Ben Jacobs.

“With Mateus Fernandes, if you’ve followed the show over the last few months, you’ll have already heard me say he’s a Manchester United target. That was backed up last week by several media outlets – nothing new,” Jacobs said on United Stand.

“Man Utd have been in talks with the player’s side for, I’m told, 4-6 weeks, and they are to establish terms to see whether the player is open, and he is, and contingent on whether West Ham go down or stay up.

“If they stay up, the deal will likely be off the table, at least without significantly overpaying, because West Ham will fight to keep, and West Ham sources even say they’ll sit down with the player and they’ll look to give him improved terms.

“If they go down it gets interesting, because the player doesn’t want to be in the Championship. Still, a payment would be needed of more than what West Ham paid, which, to my knowledge, was £38m and £4m in add-ons.

“If you’ve got a £70m budget, maybe £75m, for each midfielder, Mateus Fernandes is going to be cheaper than some of the other names, maybe giving extra shifted budget towards a midfielder approaching £100m.”

Arsenal and Manchester City have also been sniffing around Fernandes, but despite being just five years old when Ronaldo left Old Trafford for Real Madrid in 2009, the young Portuguese star told the Premier League’s YouTube channel that he would love to travel back to the era in which his compatriot was starring for the Red Devils.

“Cristiano in Manchester. United were unbelievable at that time and Cristiano was amazing,” he said.