Bruno Fernandes appeared to say an emotional goodbye to Sporting Lisbon after breaking down in tears during their pre-season match with Valencia on Monday.
The midfielder and his wife posted a short video on social media which placed the lion and heart emojis over their child supporting the team plus the word 'sempre,' which means 'always' in Portuguese.
This has been interpreted as a farewell and that the family will always hold the club in their hearts as Fernandes edges closer to leaving his homeland.
Should this departure be confirmed, United are the hot favourites to land his signature as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to seek reinforcements with two weeks before the Premier League season returns.
Fernandes has attracted interest after scoring an impressive 31 goals for Sporting last season and could be gracing the turf at Old Trafford soon, say the Express .
After Sporting's game against Valencia, manager Marcel Keizer conceded that he isn't sure what is going to happen regarding Fernandes in the coming days.
He said: "We'll see if we can keep our players and then we'll see what we do. I hope he [Fernandes] stays, of course, like everyone else at Sporting, but we don't know."
With most signs showing the player is set to leave, European football expert Gabriele Marcotti has told United supporters to air on the side of caution with these rumours.
Speaking to ESPN, he said: "This is a funny one because this has been ongoing now for three months. We hear from Portugal that 'this is imminent, this is imminent, next 48 hours'. I just don't see it happening at the prices that they're throwing around, €70-80 million.
"This is a guy who of course left Portugal very young, came to Serie A, seemed really, really promising, then he stalled a little bit, then his career got going again and he had a good season.
"I just think this is something where United, if they really wanted this guy, would have pulled the trigger on this earlier. Certainly, from what I'm told, United don't view him necessarily as a priority.
"But hey, if [Paul] Pogba goes, if Fred gets injured, whatever, could this all change? Maybe. But as of right now, certainly people here in England are pouring cold water on this."
