Chapter 58: The Shortlist

Chapter 58: The Shortlist

Although the influx of many teams made Bruno Fernandes' transfer situation chaotic, giving him a feeling of confusion amidst all the options, Bruno kept a clear head. Regarding his transfer, Bruno presented three conditions to his agent, Jorge Mendes.

Firstly, he did not want the transfer to drag on indefinitely; he wanted it resolved by the end of July at the latest, so as not to impact his preparations for the upcoming season. With the World Cup year approaching and European leagues starting early—mostly in mid to late August, with some even in early August—Bruno did not want to be caught up in negotiations once the leagues had begun.

Secondly, he wanted to move to a team with a stable squad. He was not interested in teams involved in turmoil; he wanted to focus on playing football rather than dealing with internal strife.

Lastly, he hoped that the team interested in acquiring him would approach Novara with sincerity and not pressure him to force a move to reduce the transfer fee. While he had no extravagant demands regarding his personal terms, he expected them to reflect his market value.

Mendes agreed with Bruno's conditions. He was also relieved that Bruno hadn't been dazzled by the allure of the top clubs exclusively, such as Real Madrid, where the competition for places would be fierce.

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Following Bruno's directions, Mendes' team quickly got to work. As one of the top agent teams in world football, they operated efficiently once Bruno's clear preferences were laid out. Just three days later, Mendes provided Bruno, who was vacationing (and training alone) in Porto, with a shortlist of potential clubs: Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, and Udinese.

Bruno was surprised by the list and immediately called Mendes to check if there had been a mistake, particularly because Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, and Juventus, which had been heavily linked with him in the media, were absent from the list.

Mendes confirmed the list was accurate and explained that these clubs had been filtered out in the first round of selections. Arsenal, for example, had only been willing to raise their offer to £12 million (approximately €14 million), which evidently showed they did not value Bruno as highly as needed.

Mendes also informed Bruno that Arsenal was currently focused on completing a high-profile transfer of a German star, reinforcing their lack of further interest in Bruno.

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Regarding Borussia Dortmund, Mendes mentioned their offer had also stopped at €15 million. Dortmund had just signed Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, spending much of the budget they had from selling Mario Götze, leaving them with limited funds. While Klopp was keen on bringing Bruno to Dortmund, he lacked support from the club's higher-ups.

Juventus and Barcelona had each offered only €10 million, showing a lack of serious intent. Barcelona had even suggested that Bruno pressure Novara to facilitate a lower transfer fee, which was directly against his stipulated conditions, leading to their immediate exclusion.

Bruno was frustrated but not surprised by the lack of serious approaches from these top clubs.

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As for the teams that made the final list, Mendes detailed their offers. Real Madrid proposed €20 million, with a potential additional €5 million based on performance clauses. Tottenham's bid was around €20 million as well, with a significant wage offer that reflected their genuine interest in Bruno.

Udinese had surprisingly made the highest offer, €20 million plus a potential extra €5 million based on performance. This was unexpected, as Udinese was known for their conservative spending, but they had shown unprecedented eagerness in securing Bruno's services.

In the end, each club on the shortlist presented different opportunities and challenges, but all respected Bruno's conditions and recognized his value both on and off the field.

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