Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has reportedly expressed interest in Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes as they seek to compensate for the departure of Kylian Mbappe.
This summer, PSG lost Mbappe, who fulfilled his long-time ambition of joining Real Madrid as a free agent.
According to L’Equipe, Les Parisiens are now aiming to bolster their attacking options by bringing Fernandes to Parc des Princes.
Fernandes, who joined Manchester United from Sporting in the winter of 2020, has been a pivotal player for the Red Devils, delivering impressive performances despite the team’s struggles in recent years.
There have been rumors of Fernandes contemplating a move away from Manchester United, with links to clubs like Bayern Munich and Al-Nassr this summer.
A TEAMtalk report earlier this month indicated that United had given the Portuguese midfielder the ‘green light’ to initiate discussions with Saudi clubs.
In 2021, then-PSG manager Thomas Tuchel highly praised Fernandes, despite the midfielder having only been with the Red Devils for a little over a year. Tuchel even revealed that he had urged the club to attempt signing Fernandes before his move to Old Trafford.
He said: “With my first sporting director in Paris, Antero Henrique, a Portuguese sporting director, and he knew [Fernandes] very well.
“We fought hard to have a connection to him and to bring him to our team. I got made aware of him more in detail, so we watched more and more games about him and followed him and tried to be in touch with him to make it happen.
“Obviously, he decided [to sign for Man Utd] and I was never personally in touch with him, but we tried and he went another way. [It is] bad for us that we have to play against him.”
At the moment, it seems highly unlikely that a move away from Erik ten Hag’s side is possible for the Manchester United captain. However, considering the squad overhaul being conducted by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, the Portugal international could be allowed to leave if the club feels like it.