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What's the story?
During an interview, Fiorentina sporting director, Daniele Prade, insisted that Bruno Fernandes will move to Real Madrid from Sporting CP, minimising the chances of Raphinha - a Viola target - moving to Italy.
In case you missed it...
Bruno Fernandes enjoyed an excellent 2018/19 campaign, managing 32 goals and 18 assists across all competitions for Sporting Lisbon.
Owing to a prolific last season, the Portugal international was heavily linked with a move to Premier League, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur deemed close to attaining the services of Fernandes at different junctures in the transfer window.
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However, those rumours had no substance as Sporting captain stayed in Portugal at the end of the British transfer market on August 8.
Despite looking set to spend another season at Lisbon, Real Madrid made an inquiry for Bruno Fernandes after failing to acquire primary targets namely, Paul Pogba, and Christian Eriksen. Sporting hired high profile agent Jorge Mendes to negotiate transfer terms with Los Blancos.
The heart of the matter
When quizzed upon Fiorentina's stance on Sporting CP midfielder Raphinha, Daniele Prade insisted that club's move for the Brazilian midfielder is off because Bruno Fernandes is off to Real Madrid, making it highly unlikely for the Portuguese outfit to lose two players in from the same position.
The Italian's quote read as follows:
"Raphinha must be off the market because Bruno Fernandes is off to [Real] Madrid for 70 million euros"
What's next?
With Real Madrid set to miss out on Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek, Bruno Fernandes could fill the creativity void in Zinedine Zidane's midfield department. Also, Christian Eriksen is almost certain to stay at Tottenham Hotspur after his move to Spain failing to materialise.
However, Keylor Navas is poised to make a permanent switch to Paris Saint-Germain with Alphonse Areola moving in the opposite direction on a one-year loan deal.
