Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada was presented with the perfect opportunity to clarify Bruno Fernandes’s future at the club. He swerved it.Just as Berrada was gearing up for a hagiography about the talismanic club captain during an interview for United’s in-house podcast, Andy Mitten interrupted to bluntly ask if Fernandes would stay at the club this summer.“We’d like him to stay, of course we do,” was all Berrada could offer, providing no certainty over the future of the team’s best player whatsoever.After enjoying the best individual campaign of an impressive career at Old Trafford, Fernandes has just one year remaining on his contract. There would be no shortage of suitors across Europe—and beyond—interested in the most prolific creative force in modern Premier League history. Will Bruno Fernandes Leave Man Utd?Bruno Fernandes was voted the Premier League Player of the Season. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty ImagesThat United officials are even openly admitting a desire to hang onto Fernandes represents progress. Last summer, it took the decisive intervention of then-manager Ruben Amorim to stop the club offloading their ageing skipper—according to Fernandes’s recollection of events.“The club wanted me to go, I have that in my head,” the playmaker revealed in December. “I said that to the directors, but I think they did not have the courage to make this decision, because the coach wanted me.”A few months of dramatic improvement under Michael Carrick has inspired a jarring gearshift from both parties. United’s new manager is certainly keen to keep his top provider and insisted that Fernandes “loves being here” at the end of the season.Fernandes hasn’t been drawn into any declarations of his own, but has hinted at extending his Manchester United career by speculating about all the trophies he wants to collect in a red shirt.Never before in Fernandes’s career in Manchester has the prospect of collecting silverware ever looked more realistic. The Red Devils surged into third place, averaging more points under Carrick than any other team in the division. Aside from Arsenal—who have plenty of flaws for Premier League champions—United are one of England’s few top clubs not going through a period of transition.For the first time, there will be no Pep Guardiola to get in the way, Chelsea are an unknown quantity under Xabi Alonso while it remains to be seen how Andoni Iraola’s underdog style of soccer will translate to Liverpool.However, United’s encouraging second half of the season was undoubtedly dictated by a enormously reduced schedule. The work load will be ramped up next term, forcing the club to invest this summer. Man Utd’s Transfer Strategy to Convince Fernandes to StayOmar Berrada has a clear plan in mind for Man Utd’s summer business. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty ImagesBerrada was more forthcoming on United’s transfer “plan.”“I think the template of what we did last summer will be replicated,” the executive revealed. United invested heavily in the Premier League proven duo of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha while also taking a measured gamble on two youthful recruits with huge potential; Benjamin Šeško and Senne Lammens. After years of bumbling transfers, this was United’s greatest window in years.“We have a clear plan,” Berrada added. “I do think what we saw last season is a good way forward for us, which is we want a mix of experience and youth, we want a mix of players who have demonstrated they can perform in the Premier League and perhaps also players who are doing very well outside the Premier League.”Atalanta midfielder Éderson will fulfill the brief of external Premier League talent while reports suggest there could be four more purchases this summer. Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has been heavily linked, while Newcastle United left back Lewis Hall is another figure thought to be under consideration.More Premier League buys would undoubtedly inspire excitement among the fanbase, but the best deal United could strike for overall morale would be an extension for Fernandes.READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow