Ian Wright believes Bruno Fernandes will be regretting not leaving Manchester United when he had the chance.

Fernandes was dropped by Michael Carrick for United’s 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend for what the manager claimed were “pure football” reasons but was clearly down to the captain breaking ranks and criticising his tactics after the embarrassing Champions League loss to Como.

The Portuguese international is set to return to Red Devils action for their visit to Chelsea on Saturday after clear-the-air talks with Carrick, who’s set for a ‘stay of execution’ at the club as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS directors fail to agree on an appropriate replacement.

Fernandes broke the Premier League season record for assists last season, creating 21 goals for his teammates as he was named Premier League Player of the Season.

A £57m release clause in his contract attracted interest from Saudi Arabia, but Fernandes opted to stay at Man Utd for his eighth season.

But after a dramatic downfall in his own displays as well as Manchester United’s as a whole, leading them to lose six of their opening 12 games of the season in all competitions, Wright reckons the 32-year-old will be regretting not leaving the club.

“I backed him because of what he had achieved up to that point,” Wright said on The Overlap with Sky Bet.

“He’s dragged that team, done a lot of work himself and is probably frustrated now.

“He’s given his best years to United and there’s no way he won’t be thinking he should have left.

“It’s not even a case of where [he could have gone], he will be thinking, ‘I could have done this, I could have done that’.

“The fact is, I thought he would have changed his attitude and the way he is and he wouldn’t be poisonous in the dressing room.

“But I genuinely believe he was the one loading the gun for [Lisandro] Martinez and then the way that he came out afterwards and threw Michael under the bus, you see that he must be a nightmare in that dressing room.”

Despite his public comments, Fernandes will retain the club captaincy, with Carrick insisting the midfielder is “committed” to United.

“Listen, we’re clear with the situation of the team and as a football club at the moment,” Carrick said in Thursday’s pre-match press conference.

“He’s an important player for this group. He has been and he will be.

“Between us, we’ve got to make a difference and we’ve got to push things in a good direction.

“He’s fully committed to this football club, he’s fully committed to making things better. It doesn’t change for me. He’s the one that’s kind of led the team so well for many a game and many a year, and he’ll continue to do that.”