One of the names that was frequently linked to a big-money deal was that of Bruno Fernandes. The highly-rated midfielder was named as a potential addition to Juventus, Manchester United, Tottenham and even Real Madrid, but he ended up extending his stay at Sporting.
Speaking in an interview, Sporting's president admitted that the club's intention was to let Fernandes leave, the only problem to see this happening is that they received only one bid to sign the footballer.
"Offloading players who took up 25 per cent of our budget was extremely important. We lost only one undisputed starter and kept what is, for me, the best midfielder in Europe. It was impossible to retain Bruno Fernandes, but we did it," president Frederio Varandas stated.
The Portuguese exec came clean about the team that made an attempt to sign the player, and even discussed the conditions they set to make the deal, which would have not been right for the green and white side.
"We prepared for his sale by putting a fair price on him, and we had bids, but the only serious offer was from Tottenham and that was €45 million ($50M) plus another €20m ($22M) in bonuses for winning the Premier League and the Champions League. Those are difficult objectives, so we chose not to accept," Varandas said.
Even if the footballer's desire was also set on leaving the club, he understood and accepted to stay at Sporting once he knew the conditions in which he would join Spurs.
"The day I turned down Tottenham's proposal, I came to the training ground and spoke to him. I told him why I declined the offer and why he would stay here beyond the end of the market and he understood perfectly. In addition, he also understood that the bid they offered us was not fair," Varandas added.
So, it seems that Manchester United and Real Madrid fans were victims of the transfer gossip, since neither one of those teams made an official bid for the footballer.
