Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes says he could have left the club last summer.
The 30-year-old was United’s hero on Thursday night, scoring a hat-trick as they beat Real Sociedad to move into a Europa League quarter-final with Lyon.
He was also singled out for praise by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in an interview with BBC Sport on Monday.
But Fernandes said there had been an offer to sign him in the summer and he’d held talks with the club about his future.
“I sat with the club because I had an offer to leave,” he said. “We talked about the possibility of me leaving the club or staying.
“They said what they wanted from me. I just asked if they still see me as part of the future of the club or not. I spoke at the time with (Erik) Ten Hag also.
“He was very clear with me, the club was very clear with me, that they thought I would be a big part of this rebuild. I thought that we could be successful.”
The Portugal international now has 15 goals this season. None of his team-mates have got into double figures.
