I will join Man United on one condition – £69m Sporting Lisbon star who Bruno Fernandes loves reacts to claims he could sign for Manchester United

I will join Man United on one condition – £69m Sporting Lisbon star who Bruno Fernandes loves reacts to claims he could sign for Manchester United

With only two months of the season remaining, and the summer window creaking open inch-by-inch, we are entering the time of year where players on the lookout for a big move tend to scatter the odd hint.

But there was nothing in the comments made by the £69 million midfielder linked with Manchester United to suggest that he is angling for a switch to Old Trafford

Anyone capable of stepping into the shoes of one of Europe’s most effective defensive midfield destroyers must be quite the player.

And the Manchester United-linked Morten Hjulmand is certainly helping to ensure that Sporting Lisbon – top of the Portuguese league and dreaming of a second title in three years – are forgetting all about Joao Palhinha.

Like the Fulham powerhouse, Hjulmand is a destroyer and a dictator rolled into one, the 6ft 1ins colossus earning the admiration of a former Sporting talisman while catching the eye of Fernandes’ current employers.

Morten Hjulmand a Manchester United target
Man United could move on from the ageing and increasingly sluggish Casemiro this summer. Hjulmand, who has a £69 million release clause in his contract, is reportedly a potential successor at a Red Devils side who may offer Facundo Pellistri as part of any deal.

But if Danish publication Bold were hoping for a few stand-out headlines when conducting an interview with the former Lecce captain this week, they would have been a little disappointed as Hjulmand kept his cards pinned to his chest.

“I’m not really into (the rumours) that much. I’m focused on a very, very long season right now with Sporting, where we have many games,” Hjulmand explains.

“There is still a long way to go. We have an ambition that we set in motion before we started the season, and we want to complete it.

“Now, there are so many rumours in international football that it is difficult to make sense of it all. So to be honest, it’s not something I spend time on. If I did, I could lie and speculate for many hours. But it’s not something I spend time on.”

Casemiro will need replacing at Old Trafford
Now, Hjulmand did not entirely rule out a summer departure. But the 24-year-old insists that he remains ‘very happy’ in the Portuguese capital.

Man United’s pursuit of a Casemiro replacement could lead them to a man far closer to home. Everton’s Amadou Onana is another option, while Ederson of Atalanta has also been linked.

Casemiro could start when Man United travel to Brentford on Saturday