Bruno Fernandes 'tried to push Man Utd transfer through' as star reveals private talks

midfielder Piotr Zielinski has claimed that was pushing to reunite at after the pair played together at Udinese. The 30-year-old has previously been hailed by Fernandes, who is also 30, and also revealed that they have spoken regularly since embarking on different career paths.

Zielinski and the United captain clashed on Saturday when Portugal beat Poland 3-1 in Warsaw. The former scored his nation's consolation goal, while the latter assisted Bernardo Silva's opener.

After full-time at the PGE Narodowy, Zielinski discussed the duo's close relationship and touched on Fernandes' failed attempts to link up at Old Trafford.

"At one point Bruno Fernandes wanted me to join Manchester United," Zielinski told Foot Truck in the Polish capital.

"We are still in touch, we talk very regularly. We played together at Udinese and in one of those matches we practically single-handedly beat AC Milan."

Zielinski and Fernandes only featured together three times in the Udinese first team but played in the same U19 team.

Fernandes left Udinese for Sampdoria in 2016, where he spent one year before switching to Sporting.

The Portuguese maestro spent two-and-a-half years in Lisbon before joining United in a £47million deal.

He has since established himself as one of Europe's best midfielders, registering 79 goals and 70 assists in 244 appearances for the Red Devils.

Zielinski also left Udinese in 2016, joining Serie A rivals Napoli, where he played 364 times across eight years.

The Pole departed Naples for the San Siro in the summer, joining Inter on a free transfer.

United will unlikely target Zielinski amid efforts to sign younger players and build for the future as much as the present under the INEOS banner.

But Fernandes clearly rates the energetic midfielder just as highly, waxing lyrical about his technical quality and personality off the pitch in 2021.

He told Meczyki: "We have a good relationship. He's a great guy, I like him a lot. We're in touch all the time.

"Honestly? Zielinski is better trained technically than me. We had a close rivalry. In the past, Zielinski was a bit shy. He was a young guy then, just like me, he blossomed."

Fernandes committed his future to United until at least 2027 in the summer, snubbing interest from elsewhere to agree new terms.

But he has endured a slow start to the season, failing to score and recording just four assists in his first 11 games.