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Manchester United’s bid to sign midfielder Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon is over.
It follows the decision of co-chairman Joel Glazer to walk away from the deal after Sporting refused to compromise on their valuation of the player.
The two sides had been locked in negotiations for weeks, with Sporting wanting up to £68 million for the midfielder, most of it up front.
United, for their part, were prepared to pay up to £55 million, composed of a base element plus various add-ons. However, with neither side prepared to budge, the deal for the player who has scored 15 goals and provided 14 assists in 27 appearances so far this season is now off the table.
Having spent most of the transfer window chasing Fernandes, time is now running out for United to bring in any reinforcements in a midfield that is desperately lacking in creativity in the continued absence of the injured Paul Pogba.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.