05 Jul 2026 16:42:21
So it now transpires we lost out on Fernandes due to a guarantee of £5m!
Having realised we were not in the race for Anderson due to his wish to go to City and also the cost, we made Fernandes our priority target.
Clearly we also have other midfield targets, but he was our priority as obviously the club felt he was the best of the prospects.
It now transpires we were prepared to pay the fee of £85m, only as £80m guaranteed and £5m in extras.
Spurs guaranteed the full £85m and that won them the race.
Whilst I am all for changing our way of doing things with transfers and ending the foolish amounts paid, along with excessive wages. This instance does seem to me a case of questionable judgement. Just over a guarantee of £5m on a deal this size! Not worth losing a priority target for.
05 Jul 2026 18:26:04
Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't. Maybe the player wanted to stay in London. Get over it.
05 Jul 2026 22:00:59
I'll decide what or if I get over, all right, fella.
05 Jul 2026 23:15:03
No better than what we have, in my opinion. Not a big loss, certainly overpriced.
05 Jul 2026 23:25:59
Essentially, United were prepared to offer £80 million, but not all guaranteed. They also believed that if they offered £85 million, Spurs would offer £90 million. And, whilst I am disappointed we missed out on Fernandes, you have to draw the line somewhere.
06 Jul 2026 00:03:50
Move on. He's at Spurs, they paid over the odds. We didn't want our pants pulled down, simple. I will have a bet that Ederson has a better season than Fernandes and cost less than half. If they can't choose between us and another team, let them go.
If you fancied some bird, but she wasn't sure you were the one and had her eye on another guy, you wouldn't marry her. Let the other guy deal with it, not your problem anymore.
06 Jul 2026 16:08:15
Maybe the wage demands also played a part.
06 Jul 2026 19:21:49
B*******.
There's been articles saying United enquired but never made an offer.
Also, for £5M, he could easily have held his ground.