Steven Railston of the Manchester Evening News has reported that former Man Utd youngster Alvaro Fernandez could return to the club.
United have a buy-back clause in his contract that is worth £16.7m but only have until summer 2026 to activate it. Every other club will have to pay £41.8m buyout for the left-back meaning that United will save £25m should they decide to go back in for him.
Fernandez left the club this season to join Benfica on a permanent deal worth just €6m (£5m) meaning that United will have to pay over three times as much than what they let him go for should they want to bring him back to Old Trafford. He joined United in 2020 where he played for the U23s.
He never played for the first team.
Final Thoughts
I'm not sure why we let him go to be honest. There were a multitude of reasons to keep him such as age, ability and most of all, position.
United have been without a left-back for basically a year as Luke Shaw missed most of last season and hasn't featured at all this, while Tyrell Malacia had people concerned that he had gone missing entirely as nobody had seen him since he last played for the club at the end of the 22/23 season.
Knowing that we had two unreliable left-backs, letting Fernandez go was a pretty silly decision. The only reason I can see why they would let him go is for financial similar to what happened with James Garner to Everton a couple of seasons ago.
Looking at where we are now with our left-back situation, allowing Fernandez to leave seems even more stupid because we're having to rely on a right-back in Diogo Dalot to fill up that spot.
With our only other available full-back so far this season Noussair Mazraoui being rumored to miss a few weeks because of a surgery he had undergone recently, there are reports coming out that Erik ten Hag may have to use Jonny Evans at left-back.
Jonny Evans at LB 😬.
As good as Jonny is and was in his last game, him at left-back frightens us all.
There is also the option of keeping Dalot at LB and using Victor Lindelof at RB just as the manager did for the second half at Villa Park after Mazraoui was taken off at halftime.
Erik ten Hag has also been unwilling to use Harry Amass who, like Fernandez, is seen as a tremendous talent. However, despite this talent, lack of options at left-back and using him throughout the pre-season friendlies, ten Hag hasn't actually included Amass in any of our 10 match day squads this season.
That is one confusing decision given the above-mentioned reasons as well as risking burning out Dalot and Mazraoui. Amass' development could also stall if he is not used in the first team.
At just 21-years-old, Fernandez has ample time left in his career to develop. This is probably a reason as to why he would've wanted to leave as he was getting no game time in United's first team which would impede his development.
Moving to Benfica was perhaps the best decision he could make as in 9 matches this season, the Spaniard played all 9 whilst starting 7 of those.
As he didn't play in the first team at MUFC, I must admit, I didn't watch him at all but considering all of the talk about his ability and how highly rated he is, this tells me that he is a heck of a player with a bright future.
This buy-back clause from United was a good idea but with interest from the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and our greatest rivals Liverpool - which indicate further how good he is, if United want him back, we may have to move fast.
Even though it could be seen as ridiculous having just let him leave for €6m, maybe the club should just bite the bullet and make a decision that could benefit us?
I would take him back. He just has too much potential and we are lacking in that area of the pitch big time. I think not having a proper left-back really affects how the entire team plays. The fact that he's young, he could be a potential long-term replacement for Luke Shaw.
Background image: Alavaro Fernandez at Benfica | Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images via The Empire of The Kop