Jamie Carragher has named the big Manchester United star they 'should consider selling' and claims the stalwart is 'not a great player'.
The Red Devils swapped beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag for Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim in October, leaving the club stranded in 14th place.
The former Sporting Lisbon coach has had a mixed start to his time as manager. He suffered losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest but recorded two wins in the Europa League, most recently against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.
United are ready for a major overhaul as Amorim looks to put his stamp on the club, with plenty of comings and goings expected in the January transfer window and beyond.
And now former Liverpool captain Carragher has become the latest pundit to weigh in on the new era at Old Trafford, writing in the Telegraph that the side should offload one of their longest-serving players.
He said: 'A dilemma also looms over Bruno Fernandes. Unlike [Marcus] Rashford, Fernandes has been one of United's best players during a difficult period and would have shone with more quality around him during his career at Old Trafford.
“But he's 30 now and it could be valuable to fire him to raise money. I've always felt that Fernandes is a great talent rather than a great player. He creates many chances, but can be very undisciplined both with and without the ball.
'That makes it a lot more difficult for United to defend as a compact unit while chasing the ball all over the pitch. It seems like a lot of commitment to the supporters, but the manager will be pulling his hair out.'
Fernandes joined United from Sporting in January 2020 and was often seen by fans as a rare bright spot in a dark time for the club.
After twelve goals and eight assists in his first half of the season, the midfielder continued to contribute in the attacking third division, with 84 goals in 225 games in a red shirt.
He has enjoyed a solid opening half of last season despite receiving red cards in consecutive matches earlier this season, one of which was later rescinded. He scored five goals and ten assists in 23 games.
Carragher joined those directing their anger at Rashford after Mail Sport reported this week that United would consider offers of £40million for the forward.
The Sky Sports pundit argued that the Englishman was not performing at a level to justify the amount of money and that his return of 11 goals in 48 Premier League games over the past year and a half was 'not good enough'.
The former Liverpool defender even went so far as to say that the Red Devils would 'never win the Premier League or Champions League with him in charge'.
United are under pressure to sell players to meet Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), and raise money for Amorim to strengthen his squad.
Switching homegrown players counts as a 100 percent gain on the PSR balance sheet, and the spotlight has been on Rashford for some time now, who has been with the club since he was seven.
It is believed the 27-year-old's asking price would have been as much as £100 million when he scored 30 goals in Ten Hag's first season at United. But Rashford's loss of form and the contract he signed last year worth a prohibitive £325,000-a-week means his value has more than halved.
Even then, United are not expecting any offers for Rashford, who started the last two games on the bench before starting in the Europa League match against Viktoria Plzen.
Another option would be for the Red Devils to sell one of their two crown jewels – Kobbie Mainoo or Alejandro Garnacho – but that is something the club wants to avoid.
Leny Yoro, bought from Lille for £59m this summer as a star of the future, is, like Fernandes, seen as virtually untouchable at Old Trafford.
Otherwise, United would receive offers for most of their squad at the right price. “The reality is that everyone is for sale,” an insider said on Wednesday evening.
United are keen to retain a number of players who have flourished under Amorim, such as Amad Diallo, Matthijs de Ligt, Bruno Fernandes, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte.
Diallo will become a free agent this summer and can talk to foreign clubs from early January, but United are hopeful he will sign a new contract.
Others are more readily available but will be difficult to sell even at heavily discounted prices, such as Antony – now valued at around £23 million – Casemiro who earns £375,000 a week, and Mason Mount and Luke Shaw who have both long struggled with – term injuries.
A number of players will be out of contract this summer, including Christian Eriksen, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton. They have little resale value unless, in Maguire's case, United activate a 12-month extension.
The club are struggling to comply with PSR regulations after posting losses of £300m over the past three years. Having spent a further £200m on transfers in the summer, they failed to take into account having to pay a further £21.4m to replace Ten Hag with Amorim.
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