Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Bruno Fernandes was finally announced as a Manchester United player on Thursday evening.
United will pay Sporting Lisbon an initial £47m for the 25-year-old Portugal international, although with add-ons the fee could jump to £67.6m.
A deal between the two clubs was agreed on Wednesday, with personal terms and a medical completed today.
“I’m delighted that we’ve agreed [the deal] with Sporting,” said United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“There have been good negotiations with the club and we know, through history, these two clubs have been good with each other.”
50 biggest January transfersShow all 52 1 /5250 biggest January transfers 50 biggest January transfers 50 most expensive January transfers Click through the gallery to see the biggest deals, steals and flops in history.
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 50. Paco Alcacer (£19.4m) Borussia Dortmund to Villarreal (2020)
Bongarts/Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 49. Enzo Perez (£19.5m) Benfica to Valencia (2015)
AP
50 biggest January transfers 45= Yohan Cabaye (£20m) Newcastle to Paris Saint-Germain (2014)
2015 VI-Images
50 biggest January transfers 45= Odion Ighalo (£20m) Watford to Changchun Yatai (2017)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 45= Morgan Schneiderlin (£20m) Manchester United to Everton (2017)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 45= Theo Walcott (£20m) Arsenal to Everton (2018)
Reuters
50 biggest January transfers 44. Lucas Tousart (£20.3m) Lyon to Hertha Berlin (2020)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 42= Nemanja Matic (£21m) Benfica to Chelsea (2014)
Twitter/@ChelseaFC
50 biggest January transfers 42= Miguel Almiron (£21m) Atlanta to Newcastle (2019)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 40= David Luiz (£21.5m) Benfica to Chelsea (2011)
GETTY IMAGES
50 biggest January transfers 40= Stanislav Lobotka (£21.5m) Celta Vigo to Napoli (2020)
AFP/Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 39. Sander Berge (£22m) Genk to Sheffield United (2020)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 38. Paco Alcacer (£22.7m) Barcelona to Borussia Dortmund (2019)
AFP/Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 37. Luis Suarez (£22.8m) Ajax to Liverpool (2011)
EPA
50 biggest January transfers 36. Krzysztof Piatek (£22.8m) AC Milan to Hertha Berlin (2020)
REUTERS
50 biggest January transfers 35. Juan Cuadrado (£23.3m) Fiorentina to Chelsea (2015)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 31= Ramires (£25m) Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 31= Dimitri Payet (£25m) West Ham to Marseille (2017)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 31= Steven Bergwijn (£25m) PSV to Tottenham (2020)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 31= Lucas Moura (£25m) Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham (2018)
AFP via Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 30. Goncalo Guedes (£25.5m) Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
EPA
50 biggest January transfers 29. Reinier (£25.6m) Flamengo to Real Madrid (2020)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 28= Gabriel Jesus (£27m) Palmeiras to Manchester City (2017)
Visionhaus
50 biggest January transfers 28= Cenk Tosun (£27m) Besiktas to Everton (2018)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 27. Wilfried Bony (£27.5m) Swansea to Manchester City (2015)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 26. Inigo Martinez (£28m) Real Sociedad to Athletic Club (2018)
GETTY IMAGES
50 biggest January transfers 25. Dejan Kulusevski (£29.8m) Atalanta to Juventus (2020)
AP
50 biggest January transfers 24. Giovani Lo Celso (£30m) Real Betis to Tottenham (2020)
REUTERS
50 biggest January transfers 23. Willian (£30m) Anzhi Makhachkala to Chelsea (2013)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 22. Krysztof Piatek (£30.9m) Genoa to AC Milan (2019)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 21. Lucas Paqueta (£31.4m) Flamengo to AC Milan (2019)
EPA
50 biggest January transfers 19= Shoya Nakijima (£31.5m) Portimonense to Al-Duhail (2018)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 19= Edin Dzeko (£31.5m) Wolfsburg to Manchester City (2011)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 18. Julian Draxler (£34.1m) Wolfsburg to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 17. Leandro Paredes (£34.7m) Zenit to Paris Saint-Germain (2019)
GETTY IMAGES
50 biggest January transfers 16. Andy Carroll (£35m) Newcastle to Liverpool (2011)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 15. Cedric Bakambu (£35.3m) Villarreal to Beijing Guoan (2018)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 14. Jackson Martinez (£35.7m) Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande (2016)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 13. Juan Mata (£37.1m) Chelsea to Manchester United (2014)
Manchester United via Getty Imag
50 biggest January transfers 12. Lucas Moura (£38m) Sao Paulo to PSG (2013)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 11. Alex Teixeira (£38.5m) Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
AFP/Getty
50 biggest January transfers 10. Paulinho (£44.2m) Barcelona to Guangzhou Evergrande (2019)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 9. Bruno Fernandes Sporting to Manchester United (£46.5m)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 8. Fernando Torres (£50m) Liverpool to Chelsea (2011)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 7. Oscar (£52m) Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG (2017)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m) Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal (2018)
PA
50 biggest January transfers 5. Diego Costa (£57m) Chelsea to Atletico Madrid (2017)
Getty
50 biggest January transfers 4. Aymeric Laporte (£57.2m) Athletic Club to Manchester City (2018)
Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 3. Christian Pulisic (£57.5m) Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea (2019)
PA
50 biggest January transfers 2. Virgil van Dijk (£75m) Southampton to Liverpool (2018)
REUTERS
50 biggest January transfers 1. Philippe Coutinho (£106m) Liverpool to Barcelona (2018)
AFP/Getty Images
Fernandes was officially announced as a United player on Thursday when it was announced that he would wear the number 18 shirt at Old Trafford.
At Sampdoria he wore the 10 shirt, however that number is occupied by Marcus Rashford at United.
At Lisbon he wore the number 8 – currently occupied by the Spaniard Juan Mata – while for the Portugal national team he has worn the number 16, taken by Marcos Rojo.
The number 18 shirt was most recently worn by former club captain Ashley Young, who left to join Italian side Inter Milan earlier this month.
Before Young it was worn by Frazier Campbell – now of Huddersfield Town – and, most famously, Paul Scholes .
Scholes famously wore the No 18 shirt (Getty) The Manchester United legend wore the shirt in the 1996/97 season, briefly switching to number 12 for the next campaign, before reverting to 18.
He wore the shirt up until his retirement in 2011. For his brief return, he took the number 22.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies