Man Utd choose ‘TOP’ midfield targets as £56m Fernandes exit hinges on two vital conditions | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes will reportedly leave Manchester United on two conditions, while the club have chosen their ‘top’ two midfield targets.

Fernandes has been heavily linked with an exit from Man Utd over the past year and came close to joining Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal last summer.

United‘s captain has since said that he felt club chiefs wanted him to leave to raise funds for signings, but he opted to remain at Old Trafford for at least one more signing.

This has benefited Man Utd and their Champions League hopes, with Fernandes arguably the best player in the Premier League this season.

However, Fernandes is only under contract until 2027 and has a 65 million euro (£56m) release clause that will become active this July.

And according to a report from The Telegraph, Man Utd ‘will be powerless’ as long as ‘any of his suitors meet his release clause and the player is willing to leave’.

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Fernandes ‘seeks assurances’ as Man Utd identify two ‘top’ targets

Unsurprisingly, Man Utd ‘want’ to keep Fernandes, but he is keen to be given ‘assurances’ over their ‘ambitions’ and wants to have the best chance of the Premier League and Champions League.

Man Utd could convince Fernandes by completing a successful midfield overhaul, with the same report naming Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni as their two ‘top’ targets to replace Casemiro.

Moves for these two players are far from certain to be completed, though.

Man Utd face missing out on Anderson to Premier League rivals Manchester City, with Nottm Forest players reportedly aware where he is likely to go this summer.

Tchouameni, meanwhile, could be more gettable as a move ‘is possible’, though Real Madrid could yet give the midfielder a new contract.

Alternatively, Man Utd could sign long-term target Carlos Baleba, with the Red Devils reportedly receiving a green light to do a deal with Brighton.

We have reported that Baleba is more likely to cost in excess of £75m than £50m, and journalist Ben Jacobs has also shut down reports of a massive price reduction.

Jacobs said on the United Stand: “This notion that Manchester United can go from £75m, which is what they were prepared to pay last summer, to £50m and start an engagement with Brighton is firmly denied by Brighton sources.”

“It’s dismissed to me from enquiries that I’ve made that anything starting with a 5 or 6 will get Carlos Baleba.”