“I wanted to have won more” - did Bruno Fernandes hint at a Manchester United exit?

Gareth Bale’s hips swivelled 180º and his shoulders quickly followed. The force of the movement allowed him to bring his legs up at the same time; first the right, then the left.

Marcelo’s crossed pass landed on Bale’s trailing boot, and the ball thundered past Loris Karius, who gazed on longingly at the meteorite that flew past him.

It should have been the headline of the night: GREATEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL GOAL EVER. And it was. For about five minutes.

The conclusion of the game brought with it some comments from one Cristiano Ronaldo, who spoke about the joys of winning with Real Madrid. It was pretty standard stuff: that he was happy to have won, that Real Madrid are the best in the world, and he loves his teammates. But it wasn’t what he said that set off the alarms and took away Bale’s moment. It was the how. He used the past tense, “it was beautiful”, and from there, he and everyone else knew that his time was up.

Bruno Fernandes may have just done the same. Speaking to ESPN, the midfielder opened up on his time at Manchester United, admitting that “obviously, I wanted to have won more,” and that “it wasn’t quite what I had expected for myself and for the club” only winning an FA Cup and a League Cup. “But I had very good times. We managed to reach some finals, some of them we won, others we didn’t."

Saudi interest remains alive for Bruno Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes has a release clause in his contract of around $60 million that is available only to foreign clubs, and much has been made of his future in England. Saudi Arabia are said to have a long-term interest in the player who managed to break the assists record in a single season, with 21, ahead of Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.

Next season Manchester United will return to the Champions League, and Fernandes spoke about the importance of playing in Europe’s elite tournament: “Of course, being in the Champions League, it’s the most important competition, let’s say, the competition where you can play against the most important teams in the world, in Europe,” he said.

While he’s not going anywhere just yet and did make time to say that “I want to be at that level to play against the best,” his curious choice of words have certainly left a number of fans on edge as he embarks on a World Cup dream with the Portuguese national team.

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