26/10/2025

theSun on Sunday OCT 26, 2025

SPORTS 13

Unfinished business Fernandez rejected advances over a transfer in pursuit of winning trophies with Manchester United

GUGLIELMO VICARIO knows it will take a “big effort” for Tottenham to finish in the Champions League top eight after Thursday’s 0-0 draw at Monaco. Spurs started their European campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over Villarreal, but back-to-back draws and below-par displays on the road at Bodo/Glimt and Monaco have left them 15th in the table. With Thomas Frank’s team set to visit holders Paris St Germain next month and with Borussia Dortmund coming to north London in January, Tottenham may need four wins from their last five league phase fixtures to secure direct entry into the last 16 via a top-eight finish. “It would be the best option, of course and we will try,” Vicario insisted. “Eight out of 36 is not even the 25 per cent of teams. So, it is a big effort to do it. “We will try, but the important thing is to be there, to stay there and to fight for this Champions League.” Asked if Spurs had struggled to adapt to Europe’s elite competition after Vicario produced a string of saves at Stade Louis II, he said: “It depends always how you see things. I don’t see it this way. “In the Champions League we play two away games. It is always tough to get points and we manage to get two, so seeing it from this perspective, it is a good amount of points. “Of course we manage to win against Villarreal. I think we played a good game Champions League top-eight finish big effort: Vicario BY GEORGE SESSIONS we manage to win against nk we played a good game so it was

BY RICHARD JOLLY

BRUNO FERNANDES (pic) is talking hundreds and mil lions. When he led Manchester United out against Brighton this morn ing, the captain became the 63rd player to make 300 appearances for the club. He has brought up the landmark in under six years but the man who ranks as both United’s best signing and best player since Sir Alex Ferguson retired is a personal success story amid a wider malaise. “I want to be recognised by the many good things I did for the club, that I’ve brought something back to the club, not just my individual num bers,” said Fernandes. At times, his have felt like doomed heroics, a man sin gle-handedly trying to avert decline at Old Trafford. But when United endured their worst season in half a century, Fernandes was offered the most lucrative of escape routes. He could have had a remarkably lucrative reunion with his Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo and his for mer Sporting CP manager Jorge Jesus at Al-Hilal. And he chose to stay at a club who finished 15th last year. Fernandes is swift to say that he is scarcely a pauper at United, but it was a notable display of loyalty nonetheless. “The offer was very good in terms of salary,” he said. “Everything was massive for me. I had the conversations with Al-Hilal. Everyone knows that.” Fernandes talked to Ronaldo and Jesus, but he also spoke to United chief execu tive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and manager Ruben Amorim. They gave him permission to go but left him in no doubt their preference was to keep him. Fernandes explained: “Jason said, like Omar said, ‘We won’t say no but obvi ously we want you to stay at the club. But if you want to go, we won’t say that it’s not a good offer for us, because it’s massive money’ – £80-100 million (RM464m-580m). They were more than eager to pay. “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 pro

ject’ or whatever, I would be like, ‘OK and I will leave’. But obviously that wasn’t the case. I felt that I was still part of the plan.” On a personal level, Fernandes is content in Manchester. Some of his pro fessional ambitions have gone unrealised, though. United have won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup since his arrival in 2020, but not the bigger prizes. United gave Fernandes a message he liked this year: rather than cashing in on him, they invested in players to ease the goalscoring bur den on him. “We needed to sign big characters,” Fernandes said. “I think we brought in play ers that are very aware of the dimension of the club.” Perhaps the failings of pre vious teammates have cost Fernandes a wider recogni tion. Besides his 100 goals, he has 84 assists for the club. Yet the individual honours and the places on the Ballon d’Or shortlist tend to go to those who have won more prestigious trophies and played in better sides. “Probably people will say, ‘yeah, Bruno’s doing very well’,” reflected Fernandes. “But that’s not what I want. “Obviously, I want people to say good things about me – but I want the team achieve ments, because that will be massive for me also, it will make me, in the eyes of peo ple, be a better player also.” And arguably he put that quest for collective achieve ments at United above his bank balance in his thinking. “Money is important to everyone in life, so I would be lying (if I said not),” Fernandes added. “But I’m not in a position where I should be counting my money or having problems in the future if I do things right. “I’m not struggling, I’m not someone that has spent all the money that I’ve earned through the years. “And when I finish my career, I just want a relaxed life in my house, going to the coffee shop sometimes with my father.” If Fernandes should be able to afford to pay for those cof fees, his eventual retirement should be cushioned by the knowledge he gave everything to the United cause. Even after he was offered a fortune to go. – The Independent

and won 1-0 so it was enough. Now we have five more to play and we will try our best to get the maximum points.” Even though Vicario produced his best with three outstanding saves to deny Folarin Balogun and a wonderful point-black stop to thwart a header by Thilo Kehrer, he acknowledged it was a “bad game” from Tottenham. we have play and best to imum ough ced with ding deny gun erful stop ader er, he d it was a “bad ottenham.

Cristian Romero’s absence made it 10 players unavailable, but Vicario refused to look for excuses before tomorrow’s (12.30am) trip to Everton. “It was my day in terms of saves and helping the team,” Vicario reflected. “We are a group and everyone is aware of what he has to bring onto the pitch. It is not only down to me, down to Cuti, down to Micky (van de Ven). “It is the responsibility of everyone and what we train for. Probably of course is a bad day, a bad game and we will review it because I think it is a big learning for us.” – The Independent omero’s absence ayers unavailable, efused to look for fore tomorrow’s to Everton. y day in terms of helping the team,” ed. group and everyone what he has to bring It is not only down to Cuti, down to Micky e responsibility of d what we train for. ourse is a bad day, a d we will review it hink it is a big us.” – The

Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario. – REUTERSPIC