Sporting Lisbon have confirmed they will consider selling Bruno Fernandes in the summer for below his €100m (£86m) buyout clause.

Reports in Portugal last week reported that Manchester United were keen on the 24-year-old with Sporting keen to sell to ease their financial problems.

During an interview for Portuguese TV, the club’s vice president Francisco Salgado Zenha explained the situation:

“To my knowledge, there are no proposals. Are there any interested? Certainly. For 100 million [euros] he goes. Any value below, the decision has to be taken together. The way to manage football is not exclusively about money.”

“If there is a good proposal, if it makes sense, it might be accepted, but we have no decision made on that.”

It is believed that a bid of between €60m (£52m) and €70m (£61m) will be sought for Fernandes at the end of the season.

The midfielder has had a superb campaign so far for Sporting, having scored 22 goals and contributed 11 assists in 40 appearances.

Fernandes could have actually left the club for nothing last summer. An attack at the club’s training ground led some players to terminate their contracts with Sporting.

The 24-year-old decided to stay despite the controversy and he signed a new deal back in July, keeping him at the Portuguese side until 2023.