Bruno Fernandes makes Rafael Leao feelings clear amid Manchester United transfer links
Manchester United transfer news as Milan winger Rafael Leao is reportedly a player the club have concrete interest in this summer
Bruno Fernandes has sent international teammate Rafael Leao a message days after Portugal won the Nations League.
Leao and Fernandes each finished the final in Munich against Spain on Sunday night, with the former joining the United captain on the pitch as a second-half substitute. The midfielder later stepped up during the penalty shootout, scoring the third before Alvaro Morata missed the decisive kick.
That match marked the 38th time they have played together for club or country. They were briefly teammates at Sporting CP in 2018 before Leao unilaterally terminated his contract and later joined Lille on a free transfer.
Fernandes was in his first season at the Lisbon-based club after signing from Sampdoria when Leao broke into their first team. To this day, the United captain refers to him as 'maninho', which means little brother.
In wishing Leao a happy 26th birthday on Tuesday, his Instagram story post said: "HB my boy (red heart emoji) Maninho deeeeeeel". Fernandes also shared a photo of them chest-bumping while celebrating a goal they combined for against Scotland during the Nations League group stage.
Leao assisted on that occasion, returning the favour from the only previous time they set up one another, which was during the 2022 World Cup group stages against Ghana. They have played 34 times together for their country, amassing 41 goals and assists in total across those caps.
After their Nations League semi-final against Germany, Fernandes spoke to Sky Italia about Leao. "I met him as a kid at Sporting; he came up to the first team with me," the United captain said.
"He is a boy with an enormous talent that we all hope will become stronger every time because we know how much talent he has. He has had his moments, but I still believe that he is a phenomenon player who can give us something more."
TEAMtalk reported in late May that Chelsea and United are interested in Leao. Bayern Munich are also said to be monitoring, with Arsenal and Barcelona reputedly touching base with his representatives.
Milan, though, allegedly do not want to sell for anything less than £84million (€100million). Not being in Europe at all next season, much like United, is purportedly a factor that increases the chances of a move this summer.
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