Bruno Fernandes joked April Fools Day has come early as the Manchester United midfielder moved to rubbish reports linking him with a move to Barcelona.
The Portugal international is approaching the two-year anniversary since arriving at United from Sporting CP and has been arguably the club s best performer over that period.
However, reports from Fernandes homeland on Saturday claimed the 27-year-old is seeking a way out of Old Trafford and has been offered to Barcelona by his agent.
Fernandes was quick to call out those reports, though, with a message posted on his personal Instagram page.
And I thought the new year only started a few days ago, yet we re already on April 1! he said in a direct response to SPORT TV s report.
Or is this once again just bad journalism?
Fernandes still has three and a half years to run on the contract signed when arriving from Sporting in a deal worth up to £68million (€80m) in January 2020.
Since his debut on February 1 that year – a goalless home draw with Wolves – Fernandes has played 104 times for United in all competitions.
That is at least 10 times more than any other United player, with Harry Maguire (94) next on the list, the pair having both started 93 times over that period.
He has been directly involved in 79 goals in those two years – 45 goals and 34 assists – a tally bettered by only six others among players from clubs in Europe s top five leagues.
But Fernandes has not been quite as effective this term, coinciding with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, with 19 players boasting more than his eight Premier League goals involvements.
