Manchester United to offer Bruno Fernandes new contract and salary boost

Bruno Fernandes is set to step up the salary ladder at Manchester United. Much of that is because the club expects Paul Pogba to be moving on this summer and that will give them leeway to offer the Portuguese midfielder a pay rise.

Pogba looks destined to leave on a free transfer after five years at Old Trafford. "I want to win trophies," the United No.6 explained to reporters as he joined up with the France squad in Clairefontaine this week.

Salary hike for Fernandes

With Pogba's future looking increasingly likely to be far from Manchester, the only certainty at  United is that they will need to find a first class replacement this summer and put Bruno Fernandes higher up on the squad's pay scale. They want him to be one of the team's references - precisely what they had hoped of Pogba but it never materialised. The 29-year-old French midfielder is light years away from meeting the club's expectations of him in terms of performance-cost. Fernandes on the other hand is a born leader - as he showed at all of his previous clubs: Udinese, Sampdoria and Sporting Clube. He will be rewarded for his brillant trajectory at Old Trafford and the consistency he has shown since his arrival in the 2020 winter transfer window.

The 27-year-old took no time to settle into life at United. He immediately showed he was worth every cent of the 63 million euros which the club paid for his services and during the past two years he has been one of the most productive midfielders in Europe. An undiputed first-choice for both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, in 117 games, he has already scored 49 goals and provided 39 assists.

In contrast, Pogba has scored 10 goals less than Fernandes - 39, but has given 12 more assists (51), but in double the amount of games - 229. On paper, Fernandes is twice as productive as Pogba for United. In Portugal, O Jogo report that United will offer Fernandes a two-year contract extension, taking him to 2027, and will practically double his salary. He will effectively take Pogba's place in the pay structure, earning between 14-15 million euros. Cristiano Ronaldo, on 20M, tops the ranking.