BRUNO IS NUMERO UNO

RUBEN Amorim insist he wants to keep Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes despite interest from Saudi Arabia, labelling the Portugal international “one of the top players in the world”.

The 30-year-old yster has been a key figure at Old Trafford since joining from Sporting Lisbon in 2020 and scored two goals in last week’s 3-0 Europa League semi-final first-leg win at Athletic Bilbao.

But the build-up to Thursday's 9pm return fixture in Manchester has been dominated by talk that Saudi club Al-Hilal are poised to make a big-money offer for Fernandes.

But Amorim, who said in March he told Fernandes he was “not going anywhere” following links to Real Madrid, was similarly defiant amid talk of a post-season move to Saudi Arabia.

Amorim says: “I think it is easy to understand [his importance] - not just because of the numbers but the way he plays, the importance that he has during his five years here.

“He is a top player, we need top players. He is a leader, he’s the captain, so he’s really important. It’s normal that a lot of clubs want a player like Bruno, like [Alejandro] Garnacho, like others.

“But we want to keep the best players and Bruno is clearly one of the top players in the world, so our idea didn’t change. We want Bruno here.”

Garnacho, meanwhile, says he is happy at Old Trafford as speculation intensifies over his future.

Garnacho adds: “Obviously as a footballer you are always going to read and listen to some rumours about the future.

“But I have a contract here until 2028, so I'm happy here.”

United’s Matthijs de Ligt, however, looks set to miss the second leg after sitting out training on the eve of the semi-final.

Christian Eriksen also missed Wednesday's training session, but is expected to be available on Thursday.