BILBAO, Spain — Bruno Fernandes says winning the Europa League could put Manchester United on course for a brighter future.
Ruben Amorim’s team are heading into the final against Tottenham Hotspur on the back of their worst domestic season since relegation to the second tier in 1974.
The game is also being played against a backdrop of financial problems at Old Trafford and a series of cost-cutting measures implemented by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
But despite the doom and gloom, Fernandes said he believes lifting a trophy could be transformative for the club.
“It won’t affect what the past has done to us, but what it can affect is the future,” Fernandes told reporters on Tuesday.
“Winning a competition gives you a lot of things. In this case you get a place in the Champions League and a lot of revenue for the club.
“It gets more players wanting to come to the club, but at this club it doesn’t change that much in this aspect as every player wants to play for this club.
“We need to focus on the opportunity.”
Fernandes has won the FA Cup and the League Cup since arriving at United from Sporting CP in 2020.
However, the Portugal midfielder hasn’t been close to winning the Premier League during his time at the club. And he insists United won’t be back where they belong until they are challenging for the biggest trophies at home and in Europe.
“We want to be at the top of everything, not only the Europa League, not only the Premier League, we want to be at the top of the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, everything we are involved in,” said Fernandes.
“This club needs to be fighting for everything we have ahead of us. Obviously, knowing that it’s not always possible to be in the finals, it’s not always possible to be winning trophies, but our aim and our goal has to be always to be until the end of the competitions fighting for the possibility of winning trophies and that’s what we want.
“We have a big chance in a competition where our aim since the beginning of the season was being in Bilbao in the final. A big final and a big opportunity.”
