Latest news with #EuropeanFinal
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Selling Bruno Fernandes would be madness – Man Utd cannot be trusted to replace him
For Manchester United, still picking through their smouldering ruins of a season, a parallel universe without Bruno Fernandes scarcely bears thinking about. It is not simply that the captain often seems their only player with any guile or gumption, but that he has almost single-handedly saved them from oblivion. The best gauge of his influence? That if you stripped out his 19 goals, the club would have finished five points worse off, with 37, on the ragged edge of relegation in any conventional campaign. Ruben Amorim accurately diagnosed his team's priorities when, after an unusually spirited home draw with Arsenal, he declared: 'We need more Brunos.' But increasingly, it looks as if United's instinct in this cost-conscious Ineos era is to burn everything down and start afresh. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's ruthlessness has reached the extreme where even Fernandes, creator of the most chances in the Premier League for three successive seasons, is deemed dispensable, free to be offloaded by his agent to Al-Hilal in the sterile opulence of Riyadh's Four Seasons hotel. Should the move be completed, it would signify a cold, impersonal ending for a player who has carried his team-mates by pure force of personality. While his bouts of petulance might grate, the mind boggles as to how anaemic United would be if deprived of his restless energy, which against all odds helped propel the club's worst side in a generation to a European final. If you believe Fernandes should go – and there are plenty of reasons why a treble-your-money sinecure in Saudi Arabia makes sense at the age of 30 – the question to ask yourself is this: do you truly trust United to spend wisely on his replacement? On paper, the estimated £80 million to £100 million that they would recoup sounds a transformative amount. But this is the institution, lest we forget, that splashed £85 million on Antony, who would go on to register twice as many bookings than goals, and £72 million on Rasmus Hojlund, who has been about as much use as a wicker canoe. There is an argument, of course, that these deals were signed off before Ineos had a chance to scrutinise the books. But the minority owners have not exactly offered a masterclass in financial prudence themselves, coughing up £21.4 million in compensation for Erik ten Hag and his staff just five months after they decided to keep him. That is before you consider the £3 million they paid Newcastle to secure the services of Dan Ashworth, only to punt him after just 15 league games. For all that Ratcliffe proudly trumpets his mother's wisdom – 'you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves' – in justifying savage cuts to everything from stationery supplies to staff sandwiches, he has yet to establish himself, when it comes to the big-ticket items at United, as the shrewdest judge. For the last few benighted months, Fernandes has, with the possible exception of Amad Diallo, been the only source of light at United. To extinguish this risks plunging the place deeper into darkness. There is a danger, too, of Ineos going against the wishes of Amorim, the figure meant to be spearheading a revolution. While the manager has cut underperforming players down to size with his withering barbs, he has always kept a soft spot for his fellow Portuguese, arguing in March: 'It's not just the quality and character of Bruno that is so important. It's that he is so decisive with and without the ball.' Amorim has refused to entertain any suggestion of losing Fernandes, insisting he was 'not going anywhere because I've already told him' and reiterated that stance on Friday. On several occasions, he has lauded him for the passion so conspicuously lacking in the rest of the dressing room. This is readily quantifiable: since he arrived from Sporting Lisbon in February 2020, Fernandes has amassed the most appearances and most minutes of any outfield player in Europe's top five leagues. Beyond his irascible on-pitch persona, he also demonstrates a certain humility and empathy, the very values that Amorim has sought to instil in this squad of painfully fragile egos. When he heard that the United women's team had been given only small ticket allocations for the friends and family to travel to their FA Cup final, he and goalkeeper Tom Heaton arranged for the cost of additional tickets to be covered by the men. It is one small detail, but it illustrates the gamble that United would be taking by allowing Fernandes to depart for roughly the same fee that they paid for the absurd Antony. They would be losing, in effect, their spiritual compass, the one player who in desperate times has grasped the gravitas of his role. That is not a quality to which you can easily attach a price, especially when you consider the failings of the club's recent recruitment efforts. In the circumstances, £80 million for their one genuine leader could constitute a monumental act of self-sabotage.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Man United transfer news: The four positions they are targeting, truth about the transfer budget and why Bruno Fernandes really could go to Saudi Arabia
A harrowing campaign is finally at an end and now Manchester United have a lot of work to do. The club will hope to make the 2024-25 season a distant memory as soon as possible as they recover from a manager sacking, mass redundancies, a European final defeat and their worst league finish for 50 years.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Betis chase history as chance to overshadow Sevilla fires up fans
WROCLAW, Poland, May 27 (Reuters) - Real Betis supporters are revelling in their team's achievement of reaching a European final for the first time in the club's history and the chance to overshadow local rivals Sevilla and enjoy their own chapter of continental success. Betis face Chelsea in the Conference League final on Wednesday, with supporters savouring every moment of the journey to a long-awaited European showpiece in one of the side's biggest matches since the club was formed almost 118 years ago. As far as the local rivalry in their city is concerned, the Betis and Sevilla trophy cabinets tell the story. While Betis have won three Spanish Cup titles and a LaLiga crown, Sevilla have lifted five Copa del Rey trophies, one league title and seven UEFA Cup/Europa League crowns. However, this season has marked a shift in the fortunes of the clubs in the city known as the 'The Pearl of Andalusia.' While Betis finished in a respectable sixth place and secured Europa League football for next season, Sevilla ended up just one point above the relegation zone, with their frustrated fans storming the club's training ground earlier this month. Betis followers hope their team can also lift a European trophy and stake a claim to be the city's top side. "Nowadays we feel we're better than Sevilla. We're higher in the league, have better players and a better-run team," Betis supporter Jesus said. The fans were also proud to be the first Betis supporters to wear the club's white and green colours for a European final. "We have dreamed about it for so many years and now we are living it. We will enjoy this time with friends and families, and drink a lot of beer," said supporter Alvaro.
CNA
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNA
Betis chase history as chance to overshadow Sevilla fires up fans
WROCLAW, Poland : Real Betis supporters are revelling in their team's achievement of reaching a European final for the first time in the club's history and the chance to overshadow local rivals Sevilla and enjoy their own chapter of continental success. Betis face Chelsea in the Conference League final on Wednesday, with supporters savouring every moment of the journey to a long-awaited European showpiece in one of the side's biggest matches since the club was formed almost 118 years ago. As far as the local rivalry in their city is concerned, the Betis and Sevilla trophy cabinets tell the story. While Betis have won three Spanish Cup titles and a LaLiga crown, Sevilla have lifted five Copa del Rey trophies, one league title and seven UEFA Cup/Europa League crowns. However, this season has marked a shift in the fortunes of the clubs in the city known as the 'The Pearl of Andalusia.' While Betis finished in a respectable sixth place and secured Europa League football for next season, Sevilla ended up just one point above the relegation zone, with their frustrated fans storming the club's training ground earlier this month. Betis followers hope their team can also lift a European trophy and stake a claim to be the city's top side. "Nowadays we feel we're better than Sevilla. We're higher in the league, have better players and a better-run team," Betis supporter Jesus said. The fans were also proud to be the first Betis supporters to wear the club's white and green colours for a European final. "We have dreamed about it for so many years and now we are living it. We will enjoy this time with friends and families, and drink a lot of beer," said supporter Alvaro.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Amorim delivers apology as Man Utd fans told good days are coming
In the aftermath of Manchester United's 2024-25 campaign, Ruben Amorim stepped onto the Old Trafford turf not to rally, but to repent. The final act of the season — a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa that bore all the consequence of a damp postscript — was followed by the kind of oration more suited to Sunday service than Sunday football. 'First of all I want to apologise for this season, we know you are really disappointed with the team,' said Amorim, microphone in hand, addressing the stadium with the solemnity of a man who has not merely lost games, but souls. United finished 15th. They lost a European final. They lost face. They lost time. The apology, for once, felt earned. "If there is one club in the world… that can overcome any situation, it's our club." Ruben Amorim ❤️ — Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 25, 2025 Amorim, appointed in November amid a chorus of cautious optimism, stood in the centre-circle and offered a duality: sorrow for what had been, and hope for what might come. 'Secondly, I want to say thank you. We are very grateful for your support during the season,' he added, acknowledging the Stretford End's continued presence, if not their unmitigated patience. It is the curious alchemy of this club that it can experience so much disaster, yet still talk of destiny. 'Now we have to make a choice or we stay stuck in the past because this season is in the past, it's over. We fight each other, or we stick together and move forward.' That choice, it seems, is Amorim's central creed: from storm, solidarity. Back in December, with the giddy false dawn of a 4-0 win over Everton, Amorim warned that 'the storm is coming'. The foresight was not the problem. What followed — six defeats in seven, tactical muddles, positional dissonance, and the occasional existential crisis — was the real issue. 'Today, after this disaster season, I want to tell you — the good days are coming,' Amorim offered, with the assuredness of a man who still believes there is poetry left in this project. If this season taught us anything, it is that rebuilding Manchester United is not simply a matter of signing players, nor of issuing apologies. It is a philosophical crisis. A club forever caught between eras, between ideologies, between the past it romanticises and the future it never quite reaches. In a moment of poignant candour, Amorim turned inward: 'Now I want to say sorry also to my players, sometimes I was not fair but I always want to be honest with you guys.' It was not tactical nous that defined his speech. It was humility. United may have finished with goals from Amad and Eriksen, but their future, if it is to be bright, will be built on something rarer: honesty.
