Man Utd: Fernandes confirms reason for ‘staying’ last summer and reveals Carrick ‘ready’ verdict | OneFootball

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed why he opted to remain at the club last summer and has commented on Michael Carrick.

Fernandes has been one of the best players in the Premier League this season, but he could easily have been playing his football elsewhere this term.

Last summer, the Red Devils standout attracted significant interest from the Saudi Pro League and a move initially looked likely, though he ultimately decided against pursuing this transfer.

And given how well he has performed this season, it is hardly surprising that the latest information is that he is likely to remain at Man Utd beyond this summer.

In a new interview, Fernandes has broken down why he decided to commit to Man Utd last summer.

“I stayed because I thought I still had something that I can give back to the club,” Fernandes said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

“Obviously the Saudi situation, with the money… there was a lot. The good thing I have in my family is that my wife is pretty down to earth like me.

“We’re very aware that we don’t want to be the richest person in the world. We just want to be the ones that have achieved the dreams they had and live a good life with their kids and trying to be as successful as possible.

“The words of my wife were like, ‘have you achieved your dreams? Have you achieved everything you wanted?’

“And that small thing she said made me understand that she’s on the same page as me. Let’s keep trying and see where this takes me.”

He continued: “I didn’t want to leave the club at the point where we were struggling,” he said.

Fernandes reveals clear verdict on Carrick

Fernandes has been Man Utd’s standout performer this season, but interim boss Carrick has got more out of their squad and boosted their Champions League qualification hopes.

United are now on the brink of securing qualification after winning eight of their last 12 games, and Fernandes has revealed that he thought Carrick was “ready” during his previous interim spell in charge in the 2021/22 campaign.

“He had three games as a manager,” Fernandes said of Carrick. “The way he prepared for the games and the way he spoke to us made you think he was more than an assistant manager. He was ready for the next step.”

On his current interim tenure, Fernandes continued: “When he came in, he had the positive energy the team needed.

“Not just nice words but when he needed something stronger, or something softer, something to bring the team together. That was not just important for the team but the whole environment.

“We weren’t thinking about what could have been or what we should have done. Very quickly we changed to, ‘it didn’t work out, let’s turn on to the other one and push to achieve what we want this season’.

“We have got very good results. This league is so tough and at this moment, we are in the best position we could be. When Michael came in, we never thought at this moment, we would be third.”