BRUNO FERNANDES has revealed that he was once so broke while chasing his footballing dream that his wife used to pay for their dates.
The Portuguese midfielder, 29, now captains Manchester United and pockets £240,000-a-week at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese ace has revealed how his wife Ana used to pay for their dates Credit: Instagram
As he prepares to lead out the Red Devils in the FA Cup Final tomorrow against neighbours City, the star has penned an open letter to supporters on The Players’ Tribune.
Fernandes recalled the difficulties of trying to make it as a footballer after leaving his homeland for Italy in 2012 as a youngster.
After struggling at Novara and then Udinese, his impressive one season spell at Sampdoria led to Sporting Lisbon moving to bring him back to Portugal in 2017.
That was when his career reached lift-off - and United made their £55m move for him in January 2020.
But despite all of the problems he faced, the beautiful Ana has been by his side as his biggest supporter ever since they began dating.
And she even funded their relationship at times by refereeing futsal matches to get cash to pay for their dates to the cinema.
Fernandes said: “Ana has been with me on this ride since we were 16, 17, 18 years old.
“We met as teenagers, and when we first started dating, I wasn’t making any money as a footballer, and she had a nice job working as a futsal referee on the weekends.
“She used to do three or four matches in a row on a Saturday, and then we would always go to the cinema on Sundays.
“I personally didn’t have much money at the time so Ana was the one who had to pay for our movie tickets. Same with going out to dinner. Even at the pizza shop, she had to pay.”
Fernandes continued: “When I moved to Italy at 17, I lived at the training ground for the first year, and then she followed me at 18, when she finished high school.
“From day one, we have pursued this dream together."
He revealed how she reassured him as he cried after being let go by Udinese and reassured him to continue pursuing his dream.
Fernandes then explained how he hung up the phone after completing his move to United and hugged Ana as he burst into tears of joy.
He added: “Look at where we are now…. The tough times, they have never broken us.”
Fernandes and childhood sweetheart Ana married in 2015 and have two children together, seven-year-old daughter Matilde and Goncalo, aged four.
However, during this same piece, he dropped a huge hint that he could leave United amid the club's turmoil.
SunSport exclusively revealed that Fernandes is considering a summer move after four-and-a-half seasons this summer.
He recently said that he will think about his future after this summer's European Championship to spark speculation.
Now he says the club’s standards must be set much higher for him to stay.
Fernandes, who has lifted just one trophy since joining United, wrote: “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 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.”
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