Manchester United

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed he could have left the club in the summer.

The 30 year old scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad to help Ruben Amorim's side into the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday but has now explained there was offer to sign him in the summer.

He confirmed he had held talks with the club about his future.

"I sat with the club because I had an offer to leave," he said. "We talked about the possibility of me leaving the club or staying.

"They said what they wanted from me. I just asked if they still see me as part of the future of the club or not. I spoke at the time with (Erik) Ten Hag also.

"He was very clear with me - the club was very clear with me - that they thought I would be a big part of this rebuild. I thought that we could be successful."

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We asked for your thoughts after Manchester United progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals with victory over Real Sociedad.

Here are some of your comments:

Jan: What a game! Thoroughly enjoyed it as, it appeared, so did the players! Rasmus Hojlund is so so close and a goal can't be too far away. Same XI for the Leicester game please.

Danyal: Bruno, Bruno, Bruno! Where would we be without him? He may shrug his shoulders but who cares - he plays with passion and has done over the last five years for United. Without him, we would be toast! His passion and work rate makes everyone around him work hard. By far the best signing and only possible captain to bring us silverware not only this season but seasons to come. The team is slowly glueing together!

Christopher: I was reminded of why and how I fell in love with Manchester United. It was an all-team effort and the togetherness of the team was evident for us all to see. It paid dividends. There were easily six or seven United players who could have won player of the match. Well done, boys.

Edward: Fantastic display from the team. Amorim should continue his tactics because I believe he will put us to another level. Brilliant job from the captain Fernandes and Hojlund played well despite going goalless. He needs to work extra hard to be finding the net.

Agim: The best performance of the season by far. Respect for the whole team. The team performance is what Manchester United is all about. Well done Amorim.

Barry: A long-awaited proper team performance. At last, some decent attempts to get the ball to Hojlund albeit at the cost of not getting more goals from those in possibly better positions. His team-mates and crowd were behind him all through and he was a threat.

Ryan Giggs is comfortably the leader when it comes to Premier League wins as a Manchester United player (407).

But who is in second?

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT

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Former Manchester United striker Dion Dublin praised Bruno Fernandes' display in Thursday's win over Real Sociedad:

"I don't know how he does it but he seems to affect every single game in some way, whether it be an assist or goal or something special.

"He's taking charge of the whole team - he's the manager on the pitch. He's seems to like that responsibility.

"He closes down and expects all his team-mates to come in behind him. Yes he got two penalties but with his third goal he's in and he could have tried to find Rasmus Hojlund but he knew how important it was to score to make sure.

"He was the conductor and his performance was just brilliant."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Friday's back pages are unsurprisingly emblazoned with pictures of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes celebrating his hat-trick in Thursday's Europa League last-16 victory over Real Sociedad.

In some quarters, the match was billed as United's last chance to keep their season alive beyond mid-March, which the Daily Star leans into by labelling Fernandes 'Captain Marvel' and hailing his 'season-saver' performance.

The Daily Express leads with the headline 'Bruno Socs it to Them' and lauds the Portugal international's showing as 'another stunning captain's performance'.

Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are among the clubs showing an interest in Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 25. (Caughtoffside), external

Crystal Palace's French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, 27, is one of the four strikers Manchester United have shortlisted for the summer. (TeamTalk), external

Meanwhile, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong - a long-term target of Manchester United - has fully recovered from an ankle injury but is now ready to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Spanish side. (Cadena SER), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, speaking to TNT Sports: "This club is all about winning.

"We need to win games. We have a long way to go, but we are confident if we focus on every game ahead and have the right mentality we can win games."

On reacting to Real Sociedad's opening goal: "Obviously, it was good for us. We react quick.

"A penalty is a bit unlucky, but then we get our penalty with a great ball from Casemiro."

On confidence in the team: "With the result and performance when you start to get a bit more confident, confidence is a big thing in football.

"We are doing very good progress, but the progress will be seen if we get results. At this club it is all about results."

On Rasmus Hojlund: "He is a striker, strikers are all about goals. For us, in the dressing room, we want Rasmus to score as many as he can.

"When the first one comes he will start to score more and more."

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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, speaking TNT Sports: "It was a complete week. We showed a bit of the future. Today, we had a good performance from our team - the physicality was there.

"In this competition it is completely different - we can be the dominant side in physicality. It was a tough week, but a good week.

"I am also learning how to use players like Casemiro. Without a lot of options we are trying to put our players in the best positions. You can feel they have more freedom because of the one game in Spain [first leg against Real Sociedad] we tried to use the pace of Garnacho on the right.

"He has shown me so many things on the right, maybe better than the left."

On Rasmus Hojlund: "We play with two 10s. We need one player to push the team and make the runs. He his helping a lot. Today, he did three or four connections that can allow us to change the game.

"He just needs to score a goal, he is so anxious."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on United's performance

Come back to this page on Friday to find a selection of your replies

Eight matches make up Thursday's Europa League action, and we will bring you every moment.

Kick-off 17:45 GMT

• Athletic Club v Roma (Agg 1-2)

• Eintracht Frankfurt v Ajax (Agg 2-1)

• Lazio v Viktoria Plzen (Agg 2-1)

• Olympiakos Piraeus v Bodo/Glimt (Agg 0-3)

Kick-off 20:00 GMT

• Manchester United v Real Sociedad (Agg 1-1) - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary

• Lyon v FCSB (Agg 3-1)

• Rangers v Fenerbahce (Agg 3-1)

• Tottenham v AZ (Agg 0-1)

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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On this week's episode of BBC Radio Manchester's Devil's Advocate podcast, presenter Joe McGrath spoke about forward Joshua Zirkzee:

"One of the things we highlighted about Zirkzee when we did throw criticism was that we enjoyed his hunger and his desire. What Ruben Amorim has managed to do is pull out the bits of his ability that suit Amorim's game the most.

"We have seen flurries of that throughout certain fixtures and we are like: 'Zirkzee might not be a waste of all this money after all because he's done really well there and I enjoy him'.

"You have to have characters like that in your team because they're hungry. I look at Rasmus Hojlund and I think: 'Is Hojlund hungry for a Premier League title?' I look at him and I think no, but I look at Zirkzee and I think he's got ambitions.

"He wants to be in winning sides - he wants to be at the top of his game."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in 24-year-old Bayer Leverkusen and Netherlands winger Jeremie Frimpong. (Teamtalk), external

Barcelona have rejected a £57.8m bid from Manchester United for 27-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

But Barcelona boss Hansi Flick wants to keep De Jong at all costs and the Catalan club have reopened talks over a new contact. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer news? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in his interview on Monday with the BBC's sports editor Dan Roan that some of the club's players were overpaid and some were underperforming.

Ratcliffe didn't single anyone out but was responding to a question in which Antony, Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana, amongst others, were mentioned.

Today was the first opportunity to talk about the comments with United head coach Ruben Amorim.

I didn't mention any of the players by name.

Amorim did.

"If we are being honest in this moment, everybody, me, all the players, we are underperforming this season," said the former Sporting boss. "We can always change that and I include myself in that part of the underperforming.

"You are talking about players like Casemiro, for example, that won everything and we know these kind of players can play so much better."

The former Real Madrid great is known to be the highest paid current United player but has been a major disappointment since his first season at the club in 2022-23.

Signed for £70m, Casemiro still has another year left on his contract and recently gave an interview in his native Brazil saying he would like to remain at Old Trafford.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Ruben Amorim has been speaking to the media before the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie against Real Sociedad on Thursday (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Amorim confirmed Manuel Ugarte will return to the squad.

• However, the match comes too soon for Mason Mount, who was pictured training earlier on Wednesday.

• Centre-backs Lenny Yoro and Harry Maguire are also unavailable, but Amorim "has hope" that the latter will be available for Sunday's match.

• The United boss is impressed by the recently unveiled stadium plans, but added: "It is in the future - five years from now - so we have to focus on the present. I am really excited to win things at Old Trafford."

• On Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments about certain players underperforming and "being overpaid": "Everyone is underperforming - myself and the players. We can always change that and I include myself in that part of underperforming. He was honest on that, and the focus is to change his mind. In training, I feel they [the players] want this really bad."

• Amorim said he has a "really good relationship" with the club's co-owner: "We are honest with each other. We have simple, clear and honest conversations. To give me support publicly is really good for a coach. Since day one, I have felt the support from everybody."

• He said there is a "clear plan" in place for next season: "We can still reach the Champions League, so you never know. It can change the preparation for next season. We have a plan and we know what to do, in terms of what type of players to bring in."

Follow the rest of the day's football news on our daily live page

Full commentary of Manchester United v Real Socieded from 20:00 GMT on Thursday on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Manchester United wing-back Patrick Dorgu says he has enjoyed life so far at Old Trafford.

The 20-year-old is still serving his Premier League suspension after his red card against Ipswich last month but will be available for selection for Thursday's Europa League last-16 second leg against Real Sociedad.

He said that his new boss Ruben Amorim was an important part behind his decision to join United in January.

"I saw Ruben at Sporting before he came here and I could already see the ideas he had," Dorgu said. "It's a very attacking system. I like to get in the box and score goals and also defend.

"He [Amorim] has been talking to me about the connection with other players, the midfielders and the number 10s. [He wants] a lot of deep runs and movement.

"I have settled well in Manchester. The training has been good and I'm getting on well with the team."

The Dane's versatility was part of his attraction to the United manager but Dorgu said he does not mind where he is deployed.

"I don't have a preference," he said. "It's the boss that makes the decision and I am comfortable playing on both sides."