Manchester United defender joins Benfica in €9m transfer

Manchester United look to have secured their first sale of the summer as Alvaro Fernandez, the left-back who joined the club from Real Madrid in 2020, is set to join Benfica on a permanent transfer.

Fernandez has impressed since he joined the Reds from the Spanish capital four years ago and has been close to making his Premier League debut.

That moment never came for the Spaniard but a breakthrough year in Portugal, as he spent the second half of the 2023/24 season with Benfica, has earned him a permanent move to the Portuguese giants.

As part of that initial loan deal, Benfica had an option to buy Alvarez permanently at the end of the agreement and they have now exercised that clause, a statement on the official Manchester United website has confirmed.

According to journalist Chris Wheeler, the deal to sell Fernandez will earn United €6m upfront and an additional €3m in add-ons plus a sell-on fee.

United will need to continue to sell some of their assets to press ahead with plans to overhaul the current squad, with some players already earmarked as players that could add to United’s transfer kitty.

Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are among the players highly likely to leave the club this summer. There are also question marks over the futures of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay.