Ex-Man United coach delivers surprise admission about signing Bruno Fernandes in 2020

A former Manchester United coach has delivered a surprise admission about signing Bruno Fernandes in January 2020.

Successful signings at Manchester United have been few and far between since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

The addition of Bruno Fernandes mid-way through the 2019/20 season has probably ended up being the club’s best piece of business in years.

Now as club captain, Fernandes has made 248 appearances for United, with 82 goals and 71 assists in that time.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the Portuguese midfielder quickly became the main man in the team and it hasn’t really changed since then.

However, this wasn’t the anticipation of the coaching staff at the time, who believed Fernandes would be a signing that would improve the current level but wanted to build on top of him. instead of around him.

“Bruno did everything that day [when we scouted him],” Mike Phelan told The Athletic. “No real specific position, but he was everywhere, quite undisciplined.

“It worked in the environment he was in. What he had was vision, the ability to control the ball, to take a risk and to create something.

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“The opportunity came along and we said, ‘He will be a definite improvement on what we’ve got.’ So we went all-in to get him and he didn’t disappoint.

“Very enthusiastic, knowledgeable about the game. Pretty effective around the place, quite controlling. But he delivered. And he was the right player at the right time for us. A good person.

“Ultimately, what we were trying to do was to build on top of that as well. But he became the focal point of everything, and that was probably down to the group of players we had.”

Since the departure of Solskjær, the 30-year-old has still maintained a high level but not been able to reach the heights of those first two seasons in terms of goalscoring numbers.

Phelan speaks on Fernandes receiving the captaincy, a decision he doesn’t seem to entirely agree with, and suggests that it could be part of the problem for the player.

He added: “Then he became captain. That was a decision other people made for whatever reasons, and he probably levelled out a little bit. He probably tried to affect everybody and forgot about himself.

“They’ve got to find a way of getting the best out of Bruno. I think they’re still juggling with that. Is he part of the answer or is he part of the problem? I don’t know. It’s about trying to make him a little bit more aware of the job at times.”

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