Pochettino tried to sign Fernandes in 2019 and inherits him after two rejected offers

Mauricio Pochettino wanted Bruno Fernandes at Tottenham in 2019, according to Sky Sports. Seven years later he finally gets to coach him, and the first thing waiting on his desk at Manchester United is a contract the captain has now turned down twice. BBC Sport, Sky Sports and The Athletic all reported on Friday that Fernandes rejected a second, improved offer from the club, on the same day United confirmed Pochettino as their new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

United's first proposal came in the summer, when talks began, and Fernandes said no, per Sky Sports. The second one improved the terms but still fell short. According to The Athletic, as relayed by beIN Sports, the sticking points are salary and the length of the deal.

The 32-year-old's current contract, which he extended in August 2024, runs to June 2027. United hold a one-year option that would keep him at Old Trafford until June 2028. That option is the real clock in this story. BBC Sport's sources say that if no new deal is agreed, it is almost certain United will trigger the extension before Jan. 1. If they don't, Fernandes would be within six months of the end of his contract and free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a club outside England.

So the leverage is not quite what the headlines suggest. United can stop a free-agent exit with a single decision. What they can't do with that option is make a player who has said no twice feel wanted, and that is where Pochettino comes in.

The Fernandes who arrives in Pochettino's squad is not the one he tried to sign from Sporting. Last season he set a Premier League record with 21 assists and won both the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year awards, per Sky. This season he has four goals, three of them in the August hat trick against Ipswich Town that is still United's only Premier League win of the campaign.

It has also been a season of friction. After the 4-1 Champions League loss at Como in October, Fernandes publicly questioned the decision "to not press man-to-man" in the game plan, and he was on the bench for the 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth that followed. Sky reported that he and Michael Carrick then held clear-the-air talks, and he was recalled for the 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. When Carrick was sacked on Thursday, Fernandes posted a short "thanks for everything".

The last two games before the break were more encouraging. He scored and assisted in the comeback win over Roma, which turned on a re-taken penalty, and again in the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, after going eight appearances without doing either.

The i Paper reported that the club is confident of getting a deal done, with a source calling the rejections "part of the negotiation process" and insisting "we will get there." The same report says Pochettino plans to build around Fernandes as a senior guide for a young group rather than move him out of the middle.

There is a market if that changes. Fernandes said in June 2025 that he had turned down Al Hilal, who were willing to almost treble his £250,000-a-week wages and pay United £100 million, and The i Paper says Bayern Munich are among the clubs monitoring him now.

Pochettino doesn't officially start until Nov. 18, after his last two USMNT games against Haiti, and his first match is at Anfield on Nov. 22, followed by Sporting away and Brentford at home. United have about seven weeks before the option deadline. The quickest way for Pochettino to make the 2019 pursuit pay off would be to get Fernandes back to last season's level before the club ever has to use it.