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Erik ten Hag let a future Man Utd superstar slip away — now the club won’t have another chance

Originally posted on HITC | By Kieran Smith | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 7:27 AM ET

Manchester United are set to make a profit on a deal involving a player who never featured for the first team.

Ineos will be pleased when they look at Manchester United’s profit at the end of the upcoming transfer window and see one deal that makes them quite pleased.

Real Madrid are close to finalising Alvaro Fernandez from Benfica for £42m, and a well-structured sell-on clause means United are expected to pocket between £17 million and £20 million from the deal.

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It’s a tidy sum for someone who never appeared for the senior squad — but there’s still a sense that the club mishandled his situation.

Alvaro Fernandez remains a missed opportunity

Even with the sell-on fee, United fans may wonder what might have been. Fernandez is on the verge of joining Real Madrid after excelling as a starter for Benfica in the Champions League, while United are now entirely out of European competition.

Erik ten Hag’s decision to let Fernandez leave in 2023 is one that’s become harder to defend as the left-back has continued to rise. He wasn’t just a top prospect — he’d already won United’s Young Player of the Year award before heading out on loan.

Instead of bringing him into the first-team fold after injuries hit the squad, Ten Hag opted to bring in Sergio Reguilon on loan. Fernandez ended that campaign as one of Granada’s standout performers before sealing a permanent move to Benfica, while Reguilon returned to Tottenham and has since been released.

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It was a short-term move that backfired — United suffered from a lack of depth at left-back throughout the season, and Fernandez may have been the in-house solution they overlooked.

United won’t get another Fernandez-like opportunity

Signing Fernandez the way they did in 2020 is no longer possible for Manchester United. He was recruited from Real Madrid’s academy before Brexit regulations restricted the ability to sign non-UK players under the age of 18.

He joined United just in time to be one of the last players brought in under the old system. From his debut with the under-18s, Fernandez looked a cut above — one of the few academy signings who seemed destined for the first team.

While the sell-on clause helps soften the blow, it won’t change the fact that United missed the chance to keep him. With better handling, Fernandez could very well have been lining up in red, rather than white.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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