Manchester United captain and Portugal international midfielder Bruno Fernandes revealed in an interview with the Portuguese pay-TV channel Canal 11 on Wednesday that he felt "hurt and disappointed" when the club attempted to sell him to Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal.

In the interview, Fernandes said that he had never completely ruled out the possibility of leaving Manchester United and move to Saudi Arabia or another top European league in the future, and acknowledged that he might one day agree to join a Saudi club to change his family's life, but he currently has no such plans.

He believes that because head coach Ruben Amorim has no intention of parting ways with him and wields considerable influence over the squad, the Manchester United management is unlikely to make a move to sell him. 

Nevertheless, learning of Manchester United's intention to sell him still left Fernandes, who has witnessed the departure of many players who unlike him have not remained loyal and dedicated to the club over the years, feeling "hurt and disappointed."

Fernandes said, "I always had that feeling that the club wanted me to leave. I spoke to the directors, but I don't think they had the courage to make that decision because the head coach wanted to keep me. If I had said I wanted to leave, they definitely would have let me go."

"From the club's perspective, I felt like they were saying, 'If you leave, it's no big deal for us.' That made me a little sad, or rather, hurt, because I'm an impeccable player."

"I'm always ready, always prepared to play. For better or for worse, I always give it my all. Then you see some players around you who don't value the club as much as I do, and they don't fight for the club as hard as I do, and that's really disheartening."

"Unless you win a championship or a trophy, your value won't be fully recognized no matter which club or league you play for."

"I've been recognized before, and the clubs that recognized me the most were the ones I played for, although lately I've felt like I'm walking on thin ice. In England, when a player approaches 30, they start to feel like their club needs "remodeling'. Just like a piece of furniture; it's discarded when it's no longer of use."

"People's views on loyalty are different now than before. I could have left during this transfer window and earned more money. I planned to leave a season ago so I could have won many trophies this season, but I decided to stay, not only for family reasons, but also because I genuinely love this club." 

"My conversation with the head coach also ultimately convinced me to stay."

"The person I spoke to was the president of Al-Hilal; he called me directly. Ruben Neves also messaged me, saying he wanted to talk to me."

"They want me to represent Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup. This goes back to Jorge Jesus' time; he contacted me back in 2023."

"I have nothing to complain about; my salary is high. I don't see it as money related. I have nothing to complain about financially, although the gap compared to Saudi Arabia is huge."

"If I have the opportunity to play in Saudi Arabia in the future, I will definitely go, not for the money, but because the lifestyle there will be different, and my children's lives will be brighter. After six years of cold and rain in Manchester, I will be playing in a league with many famous players and a booming development."

"I could have left like many others, saying, 'I want to leave, I don't want to train, I just want to leave with a salary of 20 or 30 million so they can pay me more on the other side.' But I never did that, I never felt I had that option, because my feelings and love for the club have always been consistent. But for them, money is more important than anything else."

Because Fernandes's interview revelation is somewhat similar to that of Liverpool's legendary Egypt international winger Mohamed Salah, who had recently complaint that he felt "being thrown under the bus for the team's poor performance this season," many media outlets, journalists, and fans speculate that the Portuguese international will become the second player after the "Egyptian King" to transfer to the Saudi Pro in the near future. 

As the media frenzy continued, Sky Sports' renowned Italian transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, subsequently made a follow-up report.

He said, the interview with Fernandes actually took place in November, but was only published now.

Romano confirmed that Al-Hilal had indeed been planning to sign Fernandes for three years, it is a plan that has never been abandoned. The situation is similar to their ambition to one day sign Salah from Liverpool.

However, those who have followed his reports in recent years will know that since the online rumours surfaced which claiming that Fernandes would join Al-Nassr at the request of his national team teammate Cristiano Ronaldo (one of the main culprits behind this fake rumour is our website's notoriously infamous female rumuormonger "Ms. Titan"), he has confirmed that the player has directly rejected all offers from Al-Nass three times.

He also rejected Al-Hilal using the same method, deeming it unworthy of further reporting, and therefore Romano did not mention it separately. 

What is currently confirmed is that Fernandes' contract does indeed contain a £56 million release clause, but it can only be triggered if the player wishes to transfer.

Furthermore, this release clause only applies to clubs outside the Premier League, so rumours claiming that other top clubs in the league might intend to trigger it are unfounded.

Although, like Salah, Fernandes seems to have explicitly denied his impending departure, the controversy surrounding his statement has still caused some dissatisfaction within Manchester United's management, similar to Salah's situation.

While it's unclear whether the Red Devils will pressure the head coach to impose an internal ban on Fernandes like Liverpool has, the player, like Salah, will inevitably be linked with rumours of an impending transfer to a Saudi Pro League club almost 24/7 from now on.

Regardless, he has promised to continue monitoring Fernandes' future developments and will update everyone on the latest news regarding the player's transfer speculatiours as soon as possible.