Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United need to be aiming higher than just a top-four place, and revealed that he sought assurances over the club’s ambitions before signing a new contract at Old Trafford.
Fernandes penned the new deal last year, committing himself to United until June 2026 with the option of a 12-month extension.
But the Portugal star, who has a record of 53 goals and 44 assists in 151 games for United, admits he wanted to know that the club would be competing at the highest level before agreeing terms.
United were facing an uncertain future under caretaker boss Ralf Rangnick at the time after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Fernandes asked if the club were ambitious to win trophies and not just finish in the top four.
‘Obviously I came to the club and my aim was winning trophies, because I know how big this club is and I know how big we can still be,’ said Fernandes.
‘So I had a conversation last year with the club when everyone knew that Ralf was not the coach for the future to understand that the aim for the club was still the same they said to me when I signed in 2020.
‘I said I want to be a solution for the club, I want to be helpful for the club, but I also want to know where we are going. Is there a plan? Is there a future? This was before I signed my new contract.
‘Obviously money is important, no one can hide that. It’s always important to earn more in football or life, whatever job you do. You always want to have the best for yourself. But at that time I said: ‘I’m on good money, I don’t want a new contract without knowing that we have a good future in the club’.
‘I want to know where we are going. I don’t need to know who the manager is, but I want to know just as a club, do you have a plan for the future? What are your thoughts on where we can go? Does the club want to achieve trophies or build something to go to the Champions League?
‘Because, for me, that’s not enough. The history of this club, the quality of the players we have, it demands more than just being here and fighting for fourth place. It demands at least fighting for trophies. We don’t have to win all the trophies, but we have to fight for them. So I just wanted to know if this is the future.
‘The club said they have a plan and this is what they want. That’s why I have never had my head out of here, but I was just making sure the club is still in the same direction as it was when I signed.’
United have been on the up since appointing Erik ten Hag as manager in the summer despite an horrendous start that brought defeats against Brighton and Brentford.
Fernandes credits the discipline instilled by Ten Hag which included ordering the players to come in on their day off after the Brentford debacle and do an eight-and-a-half-mile run as punishment. The Dutchman earned the respect of his players by completing the challenge himself.
‘The discipline the manager brought to everyone has changed the mentality of the entire club, not only the players,’ added Fernandes.
‘When a manager does the punishment – because that’s what you have to call it, it was a punishment – obviously it makes us feel he knows he was part of that bad result. He wants to make us understand we are together on this in the good moments and in the bad moments.
‘All of a sudden, you look backwards and you see your manager running with you. That shows he’s a manager who takes the responsibility and not only puts it on the players.
‘That was a good sign for us to understand that the discipline would be for everyone and not only for some of the players or some of the people.’
Ten Hag wasn’t afraid to drop Marcus Rashford at Wolves last month when the in-form striker overslept on the morning of the game and was late for a team meeting.
‘It’s good for everyone to understand that you we can’t go over the line, you have to follow the rules of the team and the manager,’ said Fernandes. ‘Obviously for us at that moment Marcus was already in good form.
‘Everyone noticed that the manager was changing his first XI because Marcus was late. At the same moment, everyone felt like ‘we have to be here on time, that is the responsibility we have’.
‘Those are the rules; being on time for training, for meetings for whatever it is. We have to be always on time.
‘That is a good thing because for the ones that don’t play, they feel like ‘okay, if the ones who are playing are not doing the best they can, they will be pulled out of the team’.
‘That shows the manager gives the same respect to those who are more important, less important, scoring more goals, less goals, or saving goals. It is a good sign of passing responsibility to the player.’
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
