Bruno Fernandes told Manchester United that they "can’t promise him he's going to win the Premier League" - but as long as they can show they'll be competitive he's content.
The Portuguese star has enjoyed one of his best seasons to date, topping every attacking metric for a playmaker, which has him among the favourites for individual accolades.
Fernandes has been at United during a period whereby they've struggled to claim major honours. The ex-Sporting Lisbon star has won just two trophies in more than six years at the club, despite his individual performances justifying more than that number.
The Manchester outfit have struggled to mount a season-long charge for the title and Fernandes has told the club not to promise a Premier League victory, but only to vow to remain in contention.
He told the Telegraph: “What I always say to the club is: ‘You can’t promise me that I’m going to win the Premier League. That’s impossible. But if you promise me that we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to be there at the end... that’s all I need to know. Because then it’s on me to become the best version of myself, to help everyone around to become the best version of themselves, to become the club we want to be.’”
Fernandes has regularly been in semi-finals and finals with United. He's come up short in the Europa League showpiece on two occasions, the most recent of which being last season, but has emerged victorious in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
Those near misses don't anger the 31-year-old, who is content that they are in the mix. “Everyone that comes to Man United wants to win every trophy," he said. "No one thinks in coming to the club that we’re going to fight for one or two trophies in six years. You want to fight for all of them. Then we went to three finals and didn’t win. That can happen.
"But at least you’ve been there in the fight. We were close. And what I said to the club every time that I spoke with them, what I want from the time I’m here, I want to compete. Because if I compete, I will be close to winning."
Fernandes' efforts this season, where he's provided 16 assists, came despite United struggling for the first half of the campaign. That eventually led to Ruben Amorim's dismissal with Michael Carrick presiding over a huge upturn in form. That has the Red Devils up in third and looking good for a Champions League return.
Fernandes has been present in teams that have put together impressive runs, but never been able to last the course, which he knows is the ultimate goal.
He said: “At the end of the day, it’s [about] what are we going to do for next season, to be the team we’ve been in this spell, for a full season? Because anyone can be good in spells. Being good in the whole season is much more difficult to do. And that’s something we haven’t done, at least since I’m here, because with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], my second season, we were very good until January. And then [Manchester] City just put their foot on the pedal and we ended up coming second.”
