Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has hailed the club's fans as "amazing" for their support throughout a difficult season, and given them a huge boost by pledging his commitment to the Red Devils on the eve of Saturday's FA Cup final with Manchester City.
Talking candidly in an open letter to Man Utd supporters in The Players' Tribune, Fernandes reflects on a season in which Erik ten Hag's side finished eighth, their lowest-ever Premier League placing, and why Saturday's Wembley final, where victory would secure a UEFA Europa League spot, is hugely important.
"After this difficult season, it is my responsibility to give more", he says. "It starts with me. And it starts tomorrow. We have to give everything in this last match against City, and we have to move forward.
"I love to step out at Old Trafford more than anything in the world. I don’t want to leave. This has always been my ultimate dream.
"I just want my expectations to fit with the expectations of the club. If you go talk to any fan, they will tell you the same thing. We want to compete for the league. We want to be playing [UEFA] Champions League football. We want to be in cup finals. That is the standard. That is what I want. That is what you all deserve.
"I just want to keep fighting. I want to be here. My family wants to be here. If you doubt that for a moment, then you just have to look at my Spotify Wrapped, and that will prove it to you…"
As confirmation of how much Man Utd mean to him, Fernandes explains how his family are attached to the club, including his two children who regularly sing United songs.
"When I arrived here four years ago, my daughter, Matilde, was only three.
"My son, Goncalo, wasn’t even born yet.
"Matilde, she used to love football. She was the reason why I always did my “I can’t hear you” goal celebration, because whenever we asked her nicely to put her toys away, she would put her hands over her ears and say, “What??? I can’t hear you, daddy. I can’t heaaaarrrrr yooooouuu.”
"Whenever I would forget to do the celebration, she would never let me hear the end of it.
"Why didn’t you do it, Daddy? You forgot about me!”
"She watched every match.
"It’s crazy how fast time goes by, because now I have a seven-year-old daughter who couldn’t care less about football. Now she wants to be a ballerina and an Olympic gymnast. And I have a three-year-old son who wants to do nothing but kick mini-footballs around the house. He lines up five at a time, kicks them. Goes and gets them. Lines them up again.
"The only thing that they can agree on is the song that we always have to play when we drive them to school in the morning. Always the same song.
Wembley dream
"My son, he can barely sing the lyrics. He mumbles most of the words and mixes them up, but he starts off very well.
"Imagine a three-year-old screaming his lungs out at 8 o’clock in the morning from the back seat of the car….
"Glory, glory Man United!
"Glory, glory Man United!
"Glory, glory Man United!
"As the Reds go marching on, on, ON!!!! (He loves that part).
"Then my daughter takes over for him….
"We’re the boys in red!
"And we're on our way to Wembley!!!
"Wembley, Wembley!!!!!
"Every morning, at 8 o’clock…..
"So, to my kids, and to the rest of the United fans across the world, I just want to say:
"I know it has not been easy. I know it has not been to our standard.
"But we’re on our way to Wembley.
"Get behind us one more time."
You can read the full letter here.
