Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United must guarantee they will be challenging for major honours as questions over his future continue. The 31-year-old has a £57million release clause for overseas clubs written into his contract, which runs out at the end of next season, with an option to extend the deal by a further year until 2028.

Yet for the third consecutive summer, his future remains the subject of intense speculation, with a World Cup threatening to complicate matters further. United are keen for Fernandes to remain at the club and have made their position abundantly clear. The player has now told them that while it is unrealistic to guarantee a Premier League title, they must at least pledge to be genuine contenders at the sharp end of the title race, as uncertainty over his future continues to mount after links to Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Fernandes said: "Everyone that comes to Man United wants to win every trophy. No one thinks in coming to the club that we're going to fight for one or two trophies in six years. You want to fight for all of them.

"Then we went to three finals and didn't win. That can happen. But at least you've been there in the fight. We were close.

"And what I said to the club every time that I spoke with them, what I want from the time I'm here, I want to compete. Because if I compete, I will be close to winning. If I don't compete, there's no chance I'm going to get close to anything.

"So, the main thing that the club understood is this: it's 2013 that they last won the Premier League. That's too long for a club like Man United. Being now so long without winning a Premier League is not normal.

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"As a player, you have to understand that the fans, the expectation, will always be that we want to come back and win the Premier League. As players, we have that expectation when we come to Man United. It doesn't change.

"I know people will think: 'You're going to get more money, you can get better contracts.' No, you come to Man United because you want to win trophies. Because money you can get anywhere. A lot of clubs in the Premier League pay well, a lot of clubs in Italy, Spain, they will pay you a lot.

"But you come to the club because of the history, because of what you want to achieve and what you think you can achieve. What I always say to the club is: 'You can't promise me that I'm going to win the Premier League. That's impossible.'

"But if you promise me that we're going to be competitive and we're going to be there at the end... that's all I need to know. Because then it's on me to become the best version of myself, to help everyone around to become the best version of themselves, to become the club we want to be."