PSG eye Man Utd bargain as ‘special termination clause’ emerges in ‘luxury midfield’ build | OneFootball

Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes is being targeted by French giants Paris Saint-Germain to complete their ‘luxury midfield’, according to reports.

Fernandes has been one of the bright lights in recent years under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim with the latter losing his job in January after a poor 14-month spell as Man Utd boss.

Interim head coach Michael Carrick has turned things around at Old Trafford with seven wins, two draws and one loss in his first ten matches in charge to get Man Utd fans dreaming of a return to the Champions League.

Despite that, there is set to be a summer of change as the Man Utd hierarchy have yet to decide on Amorim’s permanent successor, while the future of Fernandes and others is up in the air.

A move to Saudi Arabia had looked likely last year with the Man Utd board considering a £100m sale in order to help fund an overhaul of the squad – but ultimately Fernandes decided to stay.

And now reports in Spain are claiming that PSG ‘want to sign’ Fernandes in the summer in order to create ‘a luxury midfield alongside Vitinha and Joao Neves’.

Man Utd are ‘desperately trying to convince their star player to stay at Old Trafford amidst French interest’ but ‘the existence of a special termination clause for foreign entities has set off alarm bells within the British club’.

The report adds: ‘The Parisian club has discovered a legal loophole in the Portuguese player’s contract that would facilitate his departure for around £57 million. This figure is a bargain considering the player’s current performance, having accumulated eight goals and sixteen assists in the league.

‘PSG knows the competition will be fierce, especially given the multi-million pound interest coming from the burgeoning Saudi Arabian league this summer. It’s estimated that offers from the Middle East have reached up to £100 million, but the French sporting project has greater competitive advantage.’

Former Man Utd defender Paul Parker would seemingly welcome the interest from PSG as he wants the Red Devils to cash in on “egoistic” midfielder.

“I think he is a brilliant footballer and he has improved, but I don’t see him as a player who is improving the team in the long run.

“If Man United can cash in on him in the summer, I don’t think they should reject the offer.

“But of course, it needs to be a big amount of money, but that money would help improve the overall team, as the club could bring in new players.”

Parker added: “I have always said that I think he is very egoistic. I still think he is, and I don’t think he worked under Amorim. He couldn’t play that role, but he has had more freedom under Michael Carrick.

“I just don’t think a new manager would look at him and be like, we need to keep him. We still have to remember that he has been a part of a very bad culture, and he has added to that bad culture himself.

“I think he has improved a bit in that sense as well, but he is only good to have in the dressing room and on the pitch if he and the team is performing well.

“Some players are able to lift their teammates if things are not going well, but he is not one of those players. I think Man United needs stronger characters. This club is well known for having strong characters, but they haven’t had that for many years.”