“It was a privilege…” – Bruno Fernandes sends heartfelt message to Man United favourite

Bruno Fernandes has sent a heartfelt message to one of his former Manchester United teammates and fan-favourite star.

Fernandes, 29, has now been at United for over four years after his arrival in January 2020. The midfielder immediately settled into life at Old Trafford.

After quickly proving to be one of the most impactful players in the Premier League, the midfielder received one of the most iconic United shirt numbers in 2022/23 when Juan Mata departed the club.

Having joined and taken the no.18, Fernandes took over from Mata as the occupant of the no.8 shirt. The Spaniard had worn the shirt since he joined from Chelsea in January 2014.

Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee have now joined the club this summer and will receive the no.15 and no.11 shirts, respectively.

On Instagram, Score90 made a range of graphics showing the prior and current occupants of the key shirt numbers at United, with Fernandes and Mata shown in one of the images.

The current club captain decided to share the picture on his story and sent a heartfelt message to his former teammate as well.

“It was (a) privilege receiving the shirt number from you mago,” the Portuguese midfielder wrote, with an accompanying heart emoji.

When the 29-year-old midfielder originally took over from the shirt after Mata’s exit, the former fan-favourite Spaniard poked fun at his friend and former teammate.

In response to the announcement of Fernandes taking his shirt, Mata posted on X: “He told me he was sad the day he knew we weren’t going to keep playing together… but I think he was quite happy @B_Fernandes8 #Number8”, alongside a crying laughing face, a long nose emoji and a shrug.

Fernandes is expected to return to Carrington in the coming weeks after participating with Portugal at Euro 2024.

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