Bruno Fernandes has expressed a desire to eventually play in Spain or Italy if he departs from Manchester United, while delivering a pointed critique of the club’s management.

In a candid interview with Portuguese media outlet Canal 11, Fernandes made a startling revelation that Manchester United had attempted to offload him to a Saudi Arabian club during the summer transfer window.

The 31-year-old midfielder confessed to feeling ‘hurt’ by the club’s eagerness to move him on, accusing United of lacking the ‘courage’ to finalize the transfer.

Despite this, Fernandes emphasized his commitment to staying with Manchester United, saying he plans to remain “as long as I am wanted.”

He also shared his aspirations for the future, stating, “I would like to experience Spain’s La Liga and compete for major titles in Italy. I have a strong connection to Italy; my daughter was born there.”

Bruno Fernandes has sent another message to Man United’s hierarchy in the second part of a bombshell interview in Portugal 

Fernandes had earlier revealed his hurt that United tried to sell him in the summer

Fernandes began his senior career in Italy, enjoying spells at Novara, Udinese and Sampdoria before moving back to his native Portugal. He left Sporting Lisbon to sign for United in a deal worth up to £68million in January 2020.

‘I’ve thought about returning to Portugal. Going back to where you were once happy can tarnish the image you have left,’ he told Canal 11.

‘Out of affection and respect, my first choice would be Sporting. If I were to be happy, it would be with Sporting. But I don’t want to spoil the image I have. 

‘Even for family reasons, I would like to return to Portugal. But I don’t want to drag myself along, I want to add to my life. And even try district football, at a later stage. You play in the district league for love, it feels different. I have friends in the district league.’ 

In the first part of the interview released earlier on Tuesday, Fernandes said: ‘Manchester United wanted me to leave, I have that in my head.

‘I think they didn’t have the courage because Ruben Amorim wanted me here, but from the club’s side I felt that if I left, it wouldn’t be so bad.

‘Cristiano advised me, but the final decision always rested with me. I decided to stay because I genuinely love the club, but loyalty isn’t as well regarded as it once was.’

Fernandes has been open before about the prospect of a summer move to Saudi Arabia and why family reasons was one aspect of turning it down.

But this appearance on the Soltinhos pelo Mundo show, filmed before their 4-4 draw with Bournemouth, has put a whole new perspective on things with the United captain ‘more than hurting’ at how it was all handled.

‘The issue of loyalty isn’t viewed the same way it used to be,’ he said.

‘I could have left in the last transfer window and I would have earned much more money. I was going to leave a season ago – I won’t say where – but I would have won many trophies that season.

‘I decided to stay, also because of family reasons, but because I genuinely love the club.

‘The conversation with the manager also made me stay. But, from the club’s side, I felt a bit like, “if you leave, it’s not so bad for us.” It hurts me a bit. More than hurting, it makes me sad because I’m a player who [there is] nothing to criticise. I’m always available, I always play, good or bad. I give my all.

‘Then, you see things around you, players who don’t value the club as much and don’t defend the club as much… that makes you sad.’

Fernandes previously said he had been assured he remained part of the clubs plans when on their post-season trip to Malaysia in May.

He had met with chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and Amorim.

‘I had a conversation with Omar and he said “we won’t say no but obviously we want you to stay at the club. If you want to go, we won’t say that it’s not a good offer for us because it’s massive money”,’ Fernandes told Daily Mail Sport in October.

‘I always said that if the club was like “Bruno, we want to cash in, you are 30-years-old, we want to make some money, we don’t think you can be part of the future project”, I had to find a solution for myself and I will leave – but obviously that wasn’t the case.’

The post-season tour came at a time when Al-Hilal had been pushing to sign Fernandes ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Daily Mail Sport reported at the time that Fernandes had been given a deadline by the Saudi club of the end of May to decide whether he wanted to join.

Al-Hilal had made an offer to United in the region of £100million, which was not rejected. The personal terms for Fernandes were life-changing, even for a player who earns close to £300,000-a-week.

Fernandes was understood to have been offered a three-year contract worth a basic £700,000-a-week, with the deal potentially having been worth £65m-a-season including signing-on fee and bonuses.

His agent Miguel Pinho had talks in Riyadh. Fernandes spoke to Al-Hilal’s president and, in the end, decided to stay where he was.