October 15th 2024.
Last summer, Alvaro Fernandez made the decision to part ways with Manchester United. The team has been struggling with issues at left-back for quite some time now, which has been well-documented in recent years. While Luke Shaw has proven his abilities on the field, his recurring fitness problems have unfortunately limited him to only 12 appearances in the Premier League last season.
In an effort to provide backup for Shaw, the club signed Tyrell Malacia in 2022. However, due to a knee injury, Malacia has been out of action for the past 16 months. This has left Diogo Dalot to fill in at left-back for the current season. However, with Noussair Mazraoui facing some time on the sidelines, Dalot is expected to return to his preferred right-back position for their upcoming match against Brentford this weekend.
Given the ongoing issues at left-back, it came as a surprise to many when Alvaro Fernandez was sold to Benfica last summer. The Spanish full-back, who was signed from Real Madrid's academy in 2017, was seen as a promising talent and was expected to make a breakthrough into United's first team. However, Benfica exercised their option to buy the player for £6m after his loan spell with them last season.
Since then, Fernandez has flourished in Portugal and even put on a stellar performance in Benfica's 4-0 victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League earlier this month. As a result, he has been linked with big money moves to top clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool, who have the option to trigger his £50m release clause. However, United also have a say in the matter as they hold the option to buy back Fernandez until 2026, thanks to a clause in his contract.
The Red Devils can bring back their former defender by paying Benfica £16.4m, which is a significant increase from the £6m they received for selling him. However, given Fernandez's development and market value, this price is still below what he is truly worth. In other news, Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of Benfica, has recently made the decision to stop paying legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, as per the team's privacy policy. Stay updated with all the latest news, exclusives, and analysis on Manchester United by signing up now.
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