- Jan 6, 2013
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Fernandes still determined to leave Sporting Lisbon despite new deal
GONCALO LOPES IN PORTUGAL: Bruno Fernandes signed a new contract with Sporting, but nothing has changed. With an £85m release clause, the 25-year-old is still keen to secure a move away.
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Bruno Fernandes might have signed a new four-year deal at Sporting Lisbon... but don't be fooled. Nothing has changed and the Tottenham and Manchester United target is STILL as determined as ever to leave
- Bruno Fernandes committed his future to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday
- The in-demand midfielder signed a four-year deal with an £85m release clause
- He becomes the best paid player in the squad but remains keen to leave
- Fernandes is open to leaving in January but Sporting want him until the summer
His deal runs through until 2023, the release clause is also the same, €100million (£85m), only the midfielder is now the highest paid player in the squad having agreed a contract worth €2m (£1.7m) per season.
But crucially, this new contract does not change Fernandes' willingness to leave and the new deal is born out of what was already stipulated at the end of last season
That is, in 2018, Fernandes and Sporting reached an understanding that if the Portuguese club rejected offers of over €35m (£30m), they would have to pay him and his agent to the tune of €5m (£4.3m).
Thus, the way Sporting found, with the agreement of the player, was to increase his contract to make him the highest paid.
The Portuguese club is not financially able to pay the £4.3m in cash, so the financial plan found was to increase his salary and divide it by the total months of his contract.
But again, nothing has changed, not even the willingness of the player to leave and not even the need Sporting have to sell players.
As captain of the team, Fernandes is the most desired star and also the one that could earn the most millions for the club.
There is only one difference between what the player would like and what the club would like. Fernandes does not mind leaving as early as January, when the transfer market reopens, but the Sporting hierarchy want their captain to remain until the end of this season.
His release clause stands at £85m, but there is also an agreement between Fernandes and the club allowing his exit if an offer of €70m (£60m) comes in.
This is also one of the reasons why he remained in Portugal last summer, as the £60m offer never arrived. Tottenham's offer last summer was £60m including bonuses but that was something Sporting were unwilling to accept.
In January, however, if any club arrives with a check of £60m they could snare Fernandes; the will of the footballer will also be a decisive factor here.
Tottenham's new manager Jose Mourinho has long admired the qualities of the Portuguese international and there is, in fact, interest from Mourinho in bringing him to north London.
Fernandes has also never hid that the Premier League is the league that excites him the most and in Tottenham, as he saw last August, he would have a great opportunity to succeed.
However, there are others interested and Jorge Mendes, one of the most important agents in the world, has already informed the player, although he is not his agent, that there is the possibility of going to Real Madrid, but only at the end of the season.
It remains to be seen if the player, without any kind of agreement with Real Madrid, wants to wait for the end of the season or prefers, in January, to move, handing advantage to Tottenham or another interested club.
Once again, the new contract with Sporting will not prevent any kind of transfer.
Nothing has changed, the new contract it was just a way for the club to pay the 'debt' to the player and his agent, Miguel Pinho.
Fernandes, however, will not force to leave in January, but the Lisbon club knows that the player does not rule out that possibility either. And the truth is that with Mourinho at Tottenham the footballer's determination to leave could increase.
Mourinho is a real motivating factor for Fernandes and Real Madrid would have been a much more viable option had he ended up on the Spanish giants' bench, instead of Tottenham.
There are more clubs that want Fernandes, such as Manchester United, but between Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United and Mourinho at Tottenham, the Portuguese is more inclined towards the London club. But ultimately, the financial conditions presented by the clubs concerned may prove to be decisive at the time of the 25-year-old.
One of the reasons why Sporting are desperately trying to keep Fernandes until the end of the season is due, in part, to Portugal's participation in the 2020 European Championships.
There is such an understanding of the 70 million for his departure, but this is only valid during the present season, in June they could ask for the €100million (£85m) release clause.