Manchester United
United confirm Bruno Fernandes’ X account hacked after incendiary posts
United say Bruno Fernandes’s X account was hacked after inflammatory posts targeted INEOS. Warned…
Manchester United have confirmed that Bruno Fernandes’s X account was compromised after a sequence of inflammatory messages appeared on the captain’s feed on Sunday evening. One of the posts read “Let’s get rid of INEOS.” Other entries challenged Luke Littler to a game of FIFA and referenced Cristiano Ronaldo and YouTuber KSI.
The club posted on the same platform to explain that Fernandes had been hacked and urged supporters to “not engage with any of the posts of direct messages.” The compromised player account replied, promising to “spread the word.” Fernandes’s profile has since been restored; the last official message shown on the account was in October, celebrating his 300th appearance for the club.
The incident was resolved relatively quickly, but it arrived at a sensitive moment for United. The team’s subdued performance against Brighton at Old Trafford followed a humiliating exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of fourth-tier Grimsby Town. The Red Devils have now been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions at the earliest stage for the first time since 1981–82.
Those recent setbacks drew an unwelcome comparison with one of the club’s darker seasons a century ago. United played as few as 40 games in 1914–15, a campaign interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. The side finished 18th in a 20-team table and avoided relegation only because the bottom club alone dropped out as the top flight was restructured to 22 teams after the Great War.
The lowly position left United two points above Tottenham Hotspur, earned in a 2–0 win against Liverpool on Good Friday, 1915. That result was later discovered to have been fixed and led to life-ban sanctions for eight players across both clubs. The club’s current troubles are not identical to that episode, but the combination of on-field failures and off-field embarrassment has made this a testing period for supporters and the wider club.
Manchester United
Šeško setback deepens United’s forward-line problems
Šeško’s delayed return leaves United short of options and increases pressure on Carrick.
Manchester United have been handed another damaging blow, with Benjamin Šeško now expected to miss the rest of the calendar year.
According to The Athletic, the Slovenia international is not due back until January, a timeline that only adds to the pressure around the United boss, who could by then already be out of a job. The setback is a serious one for a side already battling through a difficult spell.
Šeško is believed to have played through the final two months of last season with the shin problem that is still affecting him. Even so, he played a part in helping United secure Champions League qualification. That history makes the current decision easier to understand, but no less painful for the club.
United chose not to send the 23-year-old for surgery over the summer. Instead, they opted for an extended period of rest in the hope that it would help him recover fully. The club has now concluded that he needs a longer spell out to reduce the risk of the problem returning later.
For Carrick, the timing could hardly be worse. United’s wider crisis has already included mutiny, humiliation and supporter unrest, and this latest development arrives just as the season enters a decisive phase.
Their issues in front of goal have been obvious across the opening two months. In Šeško’s absence, United have largely relied on improvised solutions at centre forward. Joshua Zirkzee remains the only other natural No. 9, yet his return of 10 goals in 83 appearances underlines why he has not been the answer.
Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes have all been used as stand-in strikers ahead of him, but none has thrived there. Carrick now faces the task of finding a lasting fix to a growing problem, with his own position potentially tied to the outcome.
Chelsea
Carrick keeps his job as Fernandes seeks a reset before Chelsea
Carrick stays, Fernandes resets, and United seek relief before Chelsea after a tense week.
Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes have reportedly put their differences aside after discussions aimed at clearing the air following Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth.
The fallout from that result had been severe. Fernandes had already gone public with a striking criticism of the club’s tactical approach after a damaging night in northern Italy, while Lisandro Martínez had earlier taken aim at director of football Jason Wilcox. With United in a difficult moment, Sunday’s loss to Bournemouth had looked likely to bring Carrick’s spell to an end.
Instead, the club have opted to keep him in place for the Premier League meeting with Chelsea this Saturday.
According to The Guardian, that decision has been followed by a reconciliation between Carrick and Fernandes after talks at the club’s training ground on Tuesday. The Portugal international is said to have given “assurances that he is fully committed and intent on trying to turn the team’s season around,” before a full squad meeting in which his teammates “made the same vow.”
That should give the impression of a clean slate, but United’s problems are far from settled. Fernandes is expected to start against Chelsea as he attempts to end a poor spell of form. So far this season, he has managed only four goals and one assist, all of them arriving in home matches against Ipswich Town and Sabah FK.
United’s wider picture remains bleak. They sit 16th in the Premier League and 21st in the Champions League, and they have already gone out of the Carabao Cup after a shock collapse against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pressure is increasing, and the boos after the Bournemouth defeat were aimed at the players rather than Carrick. Another setback against Chelsea could put the current regime in real danger.
Carrick will hope the latest round of soul-searching leads to a stronger response, and there is at least some indication that part of the dressing room remains aligned with him. “The feeling is that we all want to put it right. Players, staff, everyone,” one unnamed United player recently told BBC Sport.
Manchester United
Why Manchester United’s Eddie Howe Pursuit Carries a Real Financial Cost
Howe would cost United millions before wages, compensation and debt shape the decision.
Manchester United’s reported interest in Eddie Howe would not come cheaply. If the club want to move for the former Newcastle United boss, they would first need to pay around $4 million (£3 million) simply to prise him away from the terms of his agreement on Tyneside.
United have told the media, rather than issued a public statement, that Michael Carrick will remain in charge until Saturday’s Premier League match with Chelsea. What comes next is still unclear, and the thinking behind that shift has not been fully explained.
Money is a central part of the issue. Howe is understood to be among the leading candidates for the increasingly unsettled Old Trafford job and could, in theory, be available after leaving Newcastle over the summer. But that departure reportedly triggered compensation of about $4 million, as first revealed by The Guardian.
United would then also need to meet the salary expectations of Howe and his long-serving assistant Jason Tindall, described by The Athletic as “not insignificant in the eyes of United.” Carrick would also require compensation, although United limited that risk by giving the former interim manager a two-year contract rather than the three-year terms usually handed to his predecessors.
Even combined, the overall bill would still likely sit below eight figures. In the wider world of modern football, that is not an extraordinary sum. Yet in United’s current climate, it is being treated as meaningful. The club has spent the past year under intense financial pressure, with minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe saying in March 2025 that “the club runs out of money at Christmas” without drastic cost-cutting.
United later announced record revenues above $900 million and an operating profit of $30 million, despite no European football. Still, the club’s debt remains a major drag. Malcolm Glazer’s 2005 leveraged buyout loaded United with borrowing, and in 2025-26 alone the club spent $92.5 million, pushing total expenditure beyond $1.3 billion across two decades.
Chief executive Omar Berrada praised “the underlying strength of our business” while adding: “We will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable.” That discipline has already shown up in the transfer market, and now appears to extend to coaching decisions as well.
