Bruno Fernandes drops transfer deadline for when talks can happen in extensive update

Bruno Fernandes has insisted he is happy at Manchester United and will not think about his future until after the World Cup.After Mohamed Salah pledged his future to Liverpool, Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal shifted their focus to Fernandes as a potential high-profile acquisition.

Despite the Saudi Arabian side's substantial financial offer to tempt Fernandes away from Manchester, no official contact was made with United. The Portugal international also declined their proposal so he could remain at Old Trafford. During the summer, the United captain explained his decision to remain on the red side of Manchester. However, he has now offered new details about his rejection of Al-Hilal while speaking to journalists at Carrington on Friday.

He said: "I had the conversations with Al-Hilal. Everyone is aware of that. Everyone knows that. There were also other clubs that tried after Al-Hilal, but obviously my answer wouldn't change. From Europe, I had some people talking to me, but we never got into the place where we would be offering on the table or not. It's all very nice when people want you, but then they need to put the money on the table for the club. If not, the club won't allow me to go.

"Obviously, I think the concrete one was from Saudi. To be honest, I didn't need to leave the club at the moment. I spoke with the manager, not only to Saudi, but also that's why I think with European clubs we didn't get into a point of... Because I didn't show very much interest to go somewhere. So they a little bit felt that and they said, 'We'll be wasting our time and then it will say no in a month's time or two weeks' time.' So the manager spoke with me. He said I was still part of the project. He wanted me to stay. The club said the same.

"And I always said that if the club was like 'Bruno, we want to cash in, you are 30 years old. We want to make some money. We don't think you can be part of the future project', or whatever, I would be like, 'OK, I have to find a solution for myself, whatever is best for me and my family. And I will leave.'

"But obviously that wasn't the case. I felt that I was still part of the plan, that I could still help the club to achieve whatever was our aims. And that's what made me stay. Obviously, I have a big connection with the fans, with the club, also the country. My family feels very well here."

Fernandes added: "My kids love to go to school. They love the way they live here, even with the weather and everything. Today is nothing wrong [laughs]. But obviously, everyone is settled very well. We're very happy to be here. Obviously, we miss home, but my aim is not to go now to play in Portugal again. And obviously, home for me is Porto, not Lisbon.

"Obviously, if I had a chance to go to play again in Portugal, I would always put Sporting in front of everyone to get the chance to play for them again. But we feel like home here also. Many times, speaking with my family, we say sometimes the house we have here, it feels more like home than the one we have in Portugal because we were there for two weeks, three weeks, not more than that. And that was one of the many reasons that was behind that."

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When questioned about whether he had discussions with Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, Fernandes added: "I spoke with both, obviously. I think the first time I spoke was already in Malaysia, because that was when everything started. I had a conversation with Omar and I told him, 'look, this is what is on the table. I know the club might be looking at this in a way. I will be looking at it in a different way. So I just want to know from your perspective, from your side, what's the point of view, what you guys want to do. And then from there on, I will do my things'.

"And obviously, the first one, Jason said, like Omar said, 'we won't say no. But obviously, it's the thing that we want you to stay at the club. But if you want to go, we won't say that it's not the offer for us, because obviously it's massive money'. As I said this many times, the club's last biggest sale was £20million, probably from Daniel James.

"I'm not very sure. Scott [McTominay] went above that. But to go from that to the big amount that Al-Hilal was, like they could offer £80m, £100m. They were like more than eager to pay for the player to go."

Fernandes added: "And then from there on, I spoke with the manager also. I said, 'Look, this is what I have, this is the offers that I have on the table.' Obviously, I said to him, I have to think about if the club says, 'we want you to go, because we want to get a different player. We need money to get more players or whatever'.

"That was not the case from the club. They always said to me that they will buy, they will reinforce the team. They wanted players. The manager said to me, like, 'No, we want more players to help you to become a better team. So we don't want you to go. Because then if we bring some people and then we lose you, we're still going to lose something.'

"So more or less, that was the conversation between all of us. I spoke with one at a time. I didn't go to everyone together."

Fernandes revealed his circumstances at United will stay the same and no discussions will occur until after the World Cup. He added: "No, it will be the same situation.

"As I've always said, I feel good here. I want to achieve my dreams still. But obviously I can't talk by the side of the club. I've seen a lot of news. I've seen a lot of people talking that I had an agreement to go already next season. If the club has done that agreement, it wasn't made with me.

"So I haven't spoken with anyone. I could tell you that there are still people talking to me and saying that they will be very eager to have me next year, of course.

"But from my side, that's not talked about. Because my agent also knows how I work, so if he wants to talk to me, it will be after the World Cup. Because until then, I won't speak to anyone."