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BRUNO FERNANDES has bitten back at Sir Jim Ratcliffe over the Manchester United part owner’s brutal comments about the squad.
On Monday, the penny-pinching Ineos chief let rip as he called some of the players “not good enough” and “overpaid”.
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Youtube @TheOverlapRatcliffe even name-checked Antony, Casemiro, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and Jadon Sancho in his clearly-frustrated rant.
He told the BBC: “Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid.
“But for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.
“We’ve got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future.”
Ratcliffe reserved special praise for United captain Fernandes. adding: “There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer.
“We definitely need Bruno Fernandes, he’s a fantastic footballer.”
Despite the nice comments, the Portugal star, 30, was quick to defend his troops.
Fernandes said: “We need to prove ourselves every day in training, every day that we have a game. We can’t relax at this club.
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“You know that there’s a big standard, a big attention that you get from the media, from everywhere.
“You need to realise that sometimes you need to put your focus on your game, trying to improve yourself.
Getty“It’s not nice to hear certain things, obviously. I don’t think that any player likes to hear criticism or things that are talked about to you, that you’re not good enough or you’re overpaid or whatever.
“Everyone has their own contract. The club agrees to do the contracts at the time you come here or at the time you do a new contract or whatever.
“It’s about yourself proving that you can be important for the club.”
Fernandes played a starring role in Man Utd’s 4-1 Europa League win over Real Sociedad, scoring two penalties to reach the quarter finals.
United next face Leicester in the Premier League on Sunday evening as they aim to improve on their woeful season, currently 14th in the standings.
But Ruben Amorim has every faith in Fernandes. After the Sociedad match, the Red Devils boss said: “When we need it, (Fernandes) is always there.”
Man Utd player ratings
CAPTAIN Fantastic rescued Manchester United once again - scoring a hat-trick as the Red Devils overcame an early scare to beat Real Sociedad and advance in the Europa League.
He was the coolest man inside Old Trafford twice as he slotted home penalties either side of half-time to put his side in control against the Spaniards.
Joshua Zirkzee was another who impressed as Manchester United secured a tie against Lyon in the quarter-finals.
But it wasn’t all positive.
Rasmus Hojlund drew a blank yet again. That’s now 21 games and no goals – the equivalent of over THIRTY HOURS without the £72m striker hitting the net.
Check out our full Man Utd player ratings.
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