Manchester United defender Alvaro Fernandez has claimed he turned down a contract offer from Real Madrid to move to Old Trafford in 2020.
The Spanish youth international, who is currently on loan at Championship side Preston North End, was named United’s U23 Player of the Year last season and was named in the senior matchday squad on several occasions.
Erik ten Hag sanctioned a temporary move away from Old Trafford for the 19-year-old this season, and he has made 23 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites so far.
An attacking left-back by trade, Fernandez has primarily featured as a left wing-back in Ryan Lowe’s system and is known to cut inside to create goalscoring opportunities. He has two assists to his name in the Championship this season.
Highly rated at Old Trafford, this is the youngster’s first season of senior football – and he has revealed that he rejected a new offer from Real, his previous club, to move to England.
Fernandez reveals Real Madrid offer
Speaking to PNE’s official website, Fernandez explained: “Real Madrid offered me another deal, but I said no because I wanted to go to Manchester United.
“I came here and played with the U23s, which was good for me and the experience was great. More or less, I did well, and then I trained with the first team, which was crazy.
“I was on the training pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Marcus Rashford – just crazy.”
The defender will now hope to end his Championship loan spell on a positive note and return to Old Trafford next season to challenge for a place in Ten Hag’s first team.
Despite being a regular on the United bench this season, the Uruguayan has only made one senior appearance for the club this season, in the 3-0 win over Charlton in the Carabao Cup.
Prior to the beginning of this campaign, Pellistri had an 18-month loan spell at Alaves and returned to United’s senior squad for this season.
He was named in the Uruguay squad for the World Cup in Qatar, featuring in all three group games for his country.
He told the club’s official website: “I see a future in him. He is doing really well and we have to see what is the best [for him]. He is progressing. Against Everton [in a friendly upon returning from the World Cup in December], I was really happy with his performance.
“I was happy with his performance in the World Cup. So his progress is really good, and now he is coming on and has an effect. So that’s the next step that I say, ‘Well done Pelli, keep going’.”
Pellistri ‘unhappy’ with lack of United opportunity
Speaking to Sky Sports about Pellistri’s future, Vickery said: “He’s unhappy with the number of first-team opportunities. That was his first chance that he got in the week [against Charlton], and he only had a few minutes to impress there.
Vickery indicated that Brazilian side Botafogo is interested in signing the 21-year-old on loan, as well as Championship side Watford.
He added: “Whoever does it gets a very interesting player. There’s some pace in him, there are some tight dribbling skills, and there’s some vision of the game.
“He’s not just a winger, he’s an attacking midfielder as well. I think a player that deserves better than languishing on the bench or in the stands at Manchester United.”
Crystal Palace shot-stopper Jack Butland was left red-faced after an old tweet emerged ahead of his shock loan move to Manchester United.
Martin Dubravka’s season-long loan spell at Old Trafford was cut short after Newcastle on Sunday confirmed that the Slovakia international had been recalled.
United manager Erik ten Hag wasted no time in finding a replacement for Dubravka and Butland was identified as a potential No 2 choice to David de Gea.
Butland, who moved to Crystal Palace in 2020 from Stoke City, underwent a medical at United on Thursday ahead of his proposed move to Old Trafford.
Fans discovered a now-deleted tweet from 2017 in which the 29-year-old former Stoke City star stated that he would never move to United to be a No 2 striker.
Richard Farrell, a Twitter user, asked the Crystal Palace player if he would consider a move to Old Trafford and if he would be content playing second fiddle to De Gea.
In response to the tweet, the incoming Manchester United goalkeeper stated, “[I] would never move to be a number 2.”
Butland’s tweet has since been deleted, but not before it went viral on social media and received mixed reactions from fans.
“Number 3 considering [Sergio] Romero was here at the time,” one fan said.
Another argued: “That’s 2017, bro, things change.”
While one fan simply wrote: “There’s always a tweet.”
And a fifth commented: “This aged well.”
Speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Ten Hag confirmed that Butland would sign for United after Dubravka’s spell was cut short.
Leave a Reply