Fernandes excited as he prepares to hit Manchester ahead of £68m move
Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes was all smiles as he prepared to fly to Manchester ahead of a medical at Old Trafford.
Sportsmail revealed that Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon had agreed a deal on Tuesday which could be worth almost £68million after an initial fee of £46.6m.
Fernandes looked to be on his way to England imminently with his friend Carolina Deslandes posting a photo of the pair in a lift with an airplane emoji onto her Instagram story on Tuesday night.
A video emerged on social media of Fernandes being interviewed by Portuguese broadcaster SIC of the 25-year-old getting into a car and was asked about his switch to United.
Asked if his preferred option was to move to the Premier League, Bruno said: ‘It always was.’
But when asked about United specifically, Bruno said: ‘Anything really.’
He was then pictured with Deslandes, a Portuguese singer-songwriter who he struck up a close friendship with last year, as he prepared to fly to Manchester.
In August, Fernandes described Deslandes, 28, as ‘the craziest person I’ve met in recent times’ and the pair have often shared photos together on social media.
United and Sporting had been at loggerheads over the Fernandes deal but made a breakthrough in negotiations on Tuesday night with just three days of the January transfer window remaining.
Bruno Fernandes confirming he always wanted a move to the Premier League 🇾🇪 #mufc #BrunoFernandes #TransferNews [SIC] pic.twitter.com/ogpkoXSaRA
— Forever United 🇾🇪❤️ (@ForeverUnited87) January 29, 2020
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The Red Devils will pay an initial fee of £46.6m and the deal includes add-ons of £8.5m based on Fernandes’ appearances for United and the club qualifying for the Champions League.
United could also pay Sporting up to £12.7m more depending on the player hitting less attainable targets.
Fernandes is on standby to fly to Manchester for a medical on Wednesday or Thursday and is expected to sign a five-year contract at Old Trafford but he has yet to agree personal terms.