&w=3840&q=100)
Man United captain Bruno Fernandes turns down big-money move to Al Hilal
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has turned down a blockbuster offer from Saudi Pro League giants Al Hilal, choosing to continue his journey at Old Trafford in pursuit of top-level football. Despite a disappointing season for United, the 30-year-old Portuguese midfielder believes he still belongs on the biggest stages of the game and is not ready to trade ambition for riches.
Fernandes confirmed he had received a substantial proposal from the Riyadh-based club, including a reported transfer fee of £100 million and weekly wages of around £700,000. However, after careful consideration and discussions with his club, national coach and family, he chose to stay with Manchester United.
Conversations with club and coach
Fernandes said Al Hilal respected his request to take time before deciding, and that he consulted Sporting CP boss Rúben Amorim, who encouraged him to remain in Europe. He also spoke with United officials, who informed him that although they were willing to let him leave if he insisted, they had no intention of selling him and did not require the funds.
He noted that the decision wasn't made in isolation. His wife asked him to reflect on what he truly wanted for his future, and those conversations played a crucial role in shaping his final choice.
Top-level football still the goal
Although the offer was 'very exciting' and the move would have been easier with fellow Portuguese players Rúben Neves and João Cancelo already at Al Hilal, Fernandes said his desire to compete in major tournaments outweighed the financial appeal. He added that he still believes in his ability to perform at the highest level and that football remains his greatest passion.
He acknowledged that such decisions can be difficult, but maintained that happiness for him means striving for excellence on the pitch.
Focus shifts to international duty
Speaking from Portugal's camp ahead of their Nations League semi-final against Germany in Munich, Fernandes said he remains committed to performing for both club and country, with hopes of guiding Portugal to the final.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
7 minutes ago
- Time of India
China silent about lifting export curbs on rare earth metals amid growing concerns in India, world
China, which holds the global monopoly over the precious rare earth metals needed for manufacturing of phones, automobiles and missiles, continues to play hardball over lifting export restrictions of the precious metals warding off pressures from a host of countries, including, the US, EU and India. "China's export control measures are consistent with universal practices," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said responding to a question during a media briefing here on Thursday that Japanese automaker Suzuki has suspended production of its main small cars in Japan because of delays due to rare earth restrictions. "Such measures are non-discriminatory and not targeted at any particular country," he said, adding that the question should be directed to competent authorities. This is the second-time this week that Lin deflected a question on the growing global concerns over the restrictions over exports of Chinese rare earth metals. On Tuesday, he evaded a question about reports that executives and representatives of the car industry in Europe, the US and India expressed concern that China's rare earth export controls are creating the risk of shortages that could lead to the stoppages in production soon, saying that the question should be addressed to competent authorities. Reports from Tokyo on Thursday said Suzuki Motor halted production of its Swift model cars in Japan from May 26 due to China's rare earth restrictions. Reports in recent weeks from India too spoke of growing concerns among the automobile manufactures about scarcity about rare earth magnets, which are critical components in electric vehicles (EVs) and even some parts of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Also, China's export restrictions of the rare earths specially germanium, a critical mineral that is used in manufacturing of semiconductors, fibre optic cables and solar panels, has sparked concerns in India among the respective industries. Officials of India as well as many other countries say they are engaged with the concerned ministries and departments. Rare earths are a group of metals consisting of 17 elements. Though present in several counties, their extraction is costly and messy causing massive amounts of pollution. According to the International Energy Agency, currently China accounts for 61 per cent of global mined rare earth production, but controls 92 per cent of the global output. China's exports restrictions of rare earths which were imposed in June last year through a decree by Premier Li Qiang reportedly became stricter since US President Donald Trump imposed 146 per cent tariffs on Chinese exports. This week, the European Union (EU) urged China to stop restricting the export of rare earth minerals and magnets, with the bloc's trade chief saying its industries are in an "alarming situation", the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. The request was made during a meeting between the sides' top commerce officials in Paris on Tuesday. It comes as sectors across Europe raise the alarm about a shortage of rare earths, which are used to manufacture hi-tech goods ranging from electric cars and smartphones to military tanks and aircraft. "I informed my Chinese counterpart about the alarming situation in the European car industry, but I would say industry as such because clearly rare earths and permanent magnets are absolutely essential for industrial production," EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said on Wednesday, briefing reporters a day after his meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
Business Standard
9 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Muthoot Finance jumps 18% in six days
Muthoot Finance rallied 6.75% to Rs 2,447.15, extending gains for the sixth consecutive trading session. Shares of Muthoot Finance surged 18.46% in six trading sessions from its recent closing low of Rs 2,065.85 on 29 May 2025. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,470.25 today. The counter has soared 121.74% from its 52-week low of Rs 1,665 hit on 23 July 2024. On the BSE, 1.17 lakh shares have been traded so far, compared with average daily volumes of 0.54 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had outperformed the market over the past month, rising 8.95% as against the Sensex's 1.92% rise. The scrip had outperformed the market in the past three months, jumping 12.28% as against a 10.56% rise in Sensex. The counter had also outperformed the market in the past year, soaring 39.71% as against Sensex's 9.48% increase. On the technical front, the stock's daily RSI (relative strength index) stood at 70.551. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally, the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. On the daily chart, the stock was trading above its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day simple moving average (SMA), placed at 2,202.91, 2,205.82, and 2,093.38, respectively. These levels will act as crucial support zones in the near term. Muthoot Finance is the flagship company of the Kerala-based business house, The Muthoot Group, which has diversified operations in financial services, healthcare, education, and hospitality. It is India's largest gold loan-focused NBFC. The company's consolidated net profit surged 29.7% to Rs 1,477.68 crore on a 35.3% rise in total income to Rs 5,652.94 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Fintech startup Decentro raises Rs 30 crore, will shift domicile to India
Y Combinator-backed fintech startup Decentro has raised Rs 30 crore in a funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures . In making the announcement, the company also said it plans to shift its parent entity's domicile from Singapore to India over the next 12 to 18 months. The round saw Stargazer Growth (backed by Groww cofounder Lalit Keshre) and existing investors, including Uncorrelated Ventures, also participate. The fresh capital will be used by the Bengaluru-based company to deepen enterprise adoption and enhance its product capabilities, among other initiatives. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Direct Shopping From Adidas Franchise to 50% off Adidas Buy Now Undo Decentro claims to have achieved profitability and built a client base of over 1,300 enterprises, including banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), and fintechs. Founded in 2020 by Rohit Taneja and Pratik Daudkhane, the company offers a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) across customer onboarding through know your customer (KYC), data intelligence, payments, and debt collections. Live Events 'Our goal has always been to make financial and banking infrastructure simple, secure, and reliable at scale. This fundraise allows us to double down on what's working well; deep partnerships with enterprise customers and building products that power mission-critical financial flows,' said Taneja, who is the CEO of the firm. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories 'India is where it all started, and we want to make this our long-term base with the eventual flip,' he added. Among Decentro's recent products are a real-time profiling engine called Scanner, and Neobot, a multilingual AI voice agent for automated debt collections. With the decision to relocate to India, Decentro joins a growing list of Indian startups shifting domicile from overseas markets like the US and Singapore as IPO ambitions rise and regulatory clarity improves. The latest fintech company to complete a reverse flip was Razorpay , following Groww, which completed the process in May 2024 and has since confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, was the first to complete a reverse flip under the new fast-track framework, as reported by ET on March 4. These updated rules allow foreign holding entities to merge with their Indian subsidiaries without requiring National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval, a process that earlier took months. Other companies that have completed the move include PhonePe and Zepto, while Meesho, KreditBee, InMobi, Udaan, and Pine Labs are expected to follow soon. 'This flip is a strong statement of our commitment to India and our belief in its capacity to foster and scale global financial infrastructure companies. We are building not just for India, but from India for global opportunities,' said Daudkhane.
