AlHilal

The revamped Club World Cup has not received universal acclaim but an unforgettable last-16 tie will be talked about in all corners of the globe.

Al-Hilal clung on in the first half and were fortunate to only be 1-0 down thanks to goalkeeper Bono’s heroics but they recovered to go ahead in the second period.

They were twice pegged back but Marcos Leonardo delivered the decisive blow and once the final whistle was blown, staff and substitutes poured on to the pitch to enjoy the moment with their players.

The joyous Al-Hilal fans, a large cluster of whom were directly behind the dugout, waved the blue flags of the club and the green and white of the country.

Exiting the Camping World Stadium, travelling supporters packed out the concourses, dancing and singing “ole, ole ole ole”, while Saudi journalists hugged and kissed each other in the post-match news conference room.

One walked in with wide eyes and arms raised, screaming “Mabrook” in Arabic, translating as “congratulations”, almost in disbelief as to what he had witnessed.

A journalist from the media outlet Arryadia called the result “one of the biggest in the history of Saudi football” – but added that the country’s shock 2-1 win over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup will “always be top”.

A lot of money has been spent to try to grow the Saudi game’s profile – more than £700m has gone on bringing players to the Pro League, while Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Al-Nassr two and a half years ago was a significant signing.

Saudi Arabia will also host the 2034 World Cup – a decision that has been defended by Fifa president Gianni Infantino amid significant criticism – with the human rights campaign group Amnesty International describing it as “reckless”.

Infantino – the man behind the new 32-team Club World Cup format – has argued that staging the World Cup in the Gulf kingdom can be a catalyst for social improvements.

Saudi Arabia has faced years of scrutiny over its human rights and environmental record. Its World Cup bid was backed by the Football Association in December after it received assurances that all fans would be welcome.

The Saudi bid for the World Cup was unopposed, as Australia – the only other potential candidate – decided not to enter the running, hinting it was futile to do so after being given less than a month by Fifa to mount a challenge.

Fifa stood by a fast-tracked process that critics argued lacked transparency. They suggested it effectively paved the way for the Saudis thanks to a decision that only bids from Asia and Oceania would be considered.

Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who joined Al-Hilal from Lazio in 2023, was asked about the disapproval players have received in leaving Europe for the riches of the Middle East.

“Let’s see now if they will criticise us,” he said. “We showed them it’s not like they are speaking about the league.

“We show against Real Madrid, Salzburg, Pachuca and tonight. I hope we will continue to show it.”

Former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who scored in extra time, added: “We knew it would be difficult against one of the best in the world.

“We wanted to show our talents. We are so happy because we wanted to show Al-Hilal had the talent to be here.”

I think for Man United it’s best to ship [him] out. If I was the manager I’d be a little bit similar to [Ruben] Amorim in the case of I just want team players.

I want a bunch of lads who are good, honest, hard working team players. And I don’t get that vibe from Garnacho, I don’t get that vibe from a few of the players.

You look at the full-time whistle after the Europa League game. You have Brennan Johnson doing an interview.

He looks like he hasn’t had a haircut for about three months, [hair] horrible all over the place, but his interview was incredible.

You could tell he’s a real nice lad, he’s hard working, he does everything for the team. Then you look at Garnacho. Fresh trim a day ago, dyed blonde ready for the final.

The full-time whistle goes, he’s sat on the pitch sulking by himself, not trying to get behind the other lads, picking them up, saying, ‘Well done we got this far’.

“And I think that there is the big contrast. I just want good lads, honest, hard working lads.

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Scholes says Man Utd must KEEP Hojlund

Paul Scholes has fired a rocket at Manchester United, insisting they must BACK under-fire striker Rasmus Hojlund.

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, he said: “I’d keep Højlund.

“I know he’s not been great, but he’s a 22-year-old kid who has been asked to play centre-forward for Manchester United on his own for the last two years.

“He’s had to play every week. He’s the only one there, and he’s a 22-year-old kid.

“With the way they play, Man United should have at least three top centre-forwards, and I’d bring him into that group.

“Get [Victor] Osimhen and [Viktor] Gyokeres. Hojlund has struggled – like mad of late especially but he’s not had the chance to sit down and watch.

“If a striker is lacking confidence the manager should sit him down and say, ‘Have a look, get a bit of hunger back, a bit of feeling back for the game’.

“We all know he has centre-forward qualities — we’ve seen it. Not enough, I know that. But if he had experience around him.

“Say he had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke around him, it would bring him on so much. He’s been absolutely flogged to death.

“People forget how young he is. A lot of it is confidence.”

OH, to be a fly on the wall of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s office when news broke that Bruno Fernandes had snubbed a mega £100million bid from Saudi Arabia.

Manchester United’s part-owner could not have believed his luck when Al-Hilal offered to take captain Fernandes, who turns 31 in September, off their hands and give the Red Devils a much-needed cash injection.

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Ratcliffe, who claimed the “bloated” club was set to go “bust at Christmas”, has led a ruthless cost-cutting drive at Old Trafford — culling 450 staff including the much-loved receptionists and also withdrew free canteen food for workers at the ground.

So to have the potential of receiving a nine-figure sum for a player whose legs are only going to get wearier was almost too good to be true.

And it turned out to be . . . but only because Fernandes rejected Al-Hilal’s advances.

Even the offer of tax-free £700,000-a-week wages was not enough to lure the Portuguese star to the Middle East.

Yet Fernandes’ admirable resistance has thrown United’s chaotic transfer plans up in the air once again.

It is back to the drawing board for Ratcliffe and manager Ruben Amorim, who are under pressure to juggle the books with Profit and Sustainability Rules after their failure to qualify for Europe.

Despite Fernandes turning down the Saudi riches, the midfielder could still be a target for European clubs this summer — although the offers are unlikely to be even half the astonishing transfer fee on offer from Al-Hilal.

And even if he stays, Red Devils fans will now be debating where  Fernandes fits into Amorim’s rebuild next season?

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Amorim is wedded to his 3-4-3 formation and his early transfer activity seems to match up.

Wolves’ Matheus Cunha has signed in a £62.5m deal and Bryan Mbeumo is now a £50m target from Brentford, with the duo  expected to play in the attacking positions behind the lone striker.

Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho, linked with Chelsea and Napoli, are other options for the wide forward roles.

That quartet is likely to see Fernandes move further back to one of the two central midfield berths which he fulfilled in the Europa League final loss to Tottenham.

Amorim has other options in the centre of the park, including Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount.

Casemiro is on big wages, Amorim knows Ugarte well from their time together at Sporting Lisbon and the United boss lavished praise on Mount following his return to fitness towards the end of the season.

While homegrown talent Mainoo, 20, is an intriguing prospect.

So where will Fernandes play on a regular basis? In last season’s disastrous campaign, Amorim relied heavily on  talismanic Fernandes to dig his woeful 15th-placed Prem side out of the mire, netting 19 times in all competitions.

Failed Coutinho moment

Fernandes’ quality and consistency led to the eye-watering bid from Saudi and the  £100m fee will play on Ratcliffe’s mind in their ‘Mission 21’ operation to  knock Liverpool “off their perch” once again.

The Reds went through a similar scenario over seven years ago when they sold star man Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for a staggering £142m.

The transfer fee gave Jurgen Klopp the chance to rebuild as the German used that money to bring in Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, and his new spine delivered the Champions League and Premier League titles.

If Fernandes remains at United then club legend Gary Neville believes Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho must all leave.

Garnacho clashed with Amorim after the Bilbao loss to Tottenham, while the other three have all been out on loan this season.

Neville said: “If players are taking on and questioning the manager in public through social media, the manager has to win.

Neville’s transfer advice

“If the manager doesn’t win, the manager has to leave and I don’t think that’s going to happen this time. That’s happened far too many times before. I think Garnacho will leave purely because of that, I think they’ve had enough.

“Marcus has to leave for him and the club. I think that ship has sailed and he needs to find himself another club.

“It  sounds to me like Villa aren’t going to keep him. I would say for Marcus’ and United’s sake that it feels like that path has come to an end.

“I feel a little bit similarly with Jadon as I do with Marcus. I’d be a bit concerned that Chelsea haven’t made the noises that they’re going to keep him.  United have to make sure they part ways with him.

“Antony has gone to Spain and having seen a couple of players that I played with not do it Old Trafford but do it in Spain . . . I think he’s suited down to the ground and it’s been proven.”

Ratcliffe may have canned hundreds of local staff but he will soon discover it’s much harder to get rid of superstar players who are tied down to huge contracts.

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“Manchester United said they didn’t want to sell me,” he said. “They said if I wanted to go I could, but they didn’t need the money. I spoke to coach Ruben Amorim who, throughout that period, he was pushing for me not to go.”

Fernandes said it was an “exciting offer” from Al-Hilal and it would have been “easy” to move to Saudi Arabia, with several Portuguese players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves currently there.

However, he added: “I want to play at the highest possible level.

“I want to play major competitions. I know I still can and I want to be happy doing the thing I love the most.

“For better or worse, this is how I see football and I’m passionate about football and this is the decision I’ve made.”

United are understood to be delighted by the news, which came after boss Amorim expressed his belief on Friday that Fernandes would stay.

There were no direct conversations between United and Al-Hilal, so they were never presented with a bid they could turn down.

However, it was expected the Saudi side were prepared to offer between £80m and £100m to sign him in time for this month’s Fifa Club World Cup.

It is not clear whether Al-Hilal will now pursue new targets.

Fernandes has made 290 appearances and scored 98 goals for the club since his £47m move from Sporting in January 2020.

Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville told Sky Sports he believes the transfer would not have been a poor deal for the Old Trafford club but added: “He’s so important.

“The fact that he wants to stay, the fact that he wants to go through this and come out the other side, because it would have been easy for him at the end of this season to say, ‘Look, I’m done here’, will endear him towards Manchester United fans even more.

“To turn that money down at a point where Manchester United are at their lowest ebb and say, ‘No, I want to fight through this, I want to see it through the other side, I want to come out and achieve things’, I think it says a lot about him as a person, as a character.

“The club needs people who are going to run through a brick wall for them.”

RUBEN AMORIM will make a £70million swoop for Pedro Goncalves – if Bruno Fernandes heads for Saudi Arabia.

But Manchester United’s hopes of landing the Sporting Lisbon prize guy could be scuppered if the Portuguese club sell Viktor Gyokeres first.

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United skipper Fernandes has until Friday to tell Al-Hilal if he is up for a move to the Middle East, and the Saudis are ready to pay £100m if they get the thumbs up.

And if Fernandes does take the plunge on a three-year deal, the cash-strapped Reds could afford Goncalves – also known as Pote – with money to spare.

Manager Amorim would still prefer to keep his captain, and insisted he was confident of doing so after United’s post-season trip to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

But he is equally aware that a salary of more than £1m a WEEK is hugely tempting for Fernandes.

And the Old Trafford money men know they will hit the jackpot by banking such a fee for a man who turns 31 a month into next season.

Goncalves, 26, had two years at Wolves as a teenager, but returned to Portugal without playing a game.

Amorim took him to Lisbon from Famalicao six years ago, transforming him into a more attacking midfielder who can also play wide.

Goncalves, who hit 23 goals as Sporting ended a 19-year title drought in 2021, missed five months of last season with a ruptured thigh muscle.

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But he returned in April and scored in the final day victory over Vitoria which clinched the Portuguese championship again.

Goncalves is also on Aston Villa’s wish list, but United believe his relationship with Amorim puts them in pole position.

The biggest stumbling block could arise if Arsenal or Napoli can seal an early deal for £67m-rated striker Gyokeres, as Sporting would be unwilling to cash in on two of their star men.

But the Portuguese side will land a £5m-plus jackpot if Fernandes heads to the Middle East, thanks to a clause giving them ten percent of any profit United make on their skipper.

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Al-Hilal move for Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City join the race for Rayan Cherki and Leroy Sane could return to the Premier League.

Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal have offered a deal for Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, 30, and told the Portugal midfielder he has 72 hours to make a decision. (Mail, external)

Manchester City have joined the race to sign Lyon’s 21-year-old French midfielder Rayan Cherki, who has also been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)

Everton have joined Leeds United in the race to sign 33-year-old Newcastle United and England striker Callum Wilson, who is out of contract next month. (The Sun, external)

Tottenham have been offered the chance to sign 29-year-old Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, who will become a free agent at the end of next month (Sky Sports, external)

Aston Villa look poised to sign Feyenoord’s 18-year-old Dutch striker Zepiqueno Redmond on a free transfer this summer. (Sky Sports, external)

Arsenal have held talks with Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres’ agent in Lisbon and made a £58.7m offer to sign the Sweden international. (Correio da Manha – in Portuguese, external)

Manchester United have agreed the framework of a deal for Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap and are now waiting for the English striker to decide on his next move. (ESPN, external)

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, is expected to leave Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr and sign for a new club to play in the Club World Cup, which kicks off on 15 June in the United States. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)