Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has not come near profitable the Premier League or Champions League since becoming a member of the membership in 2020.
He did elevate a few home cups beneath Erik ten Hag – and if United end third this season, it is going to be a place they’ve solely bettered as soon as throughout Fernandes’ time at Outdated Trafford.
Nevertheless it represents a meagre return for a participant many argue is United’s finest signing since legendary supervisor Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, and somebody, they argue, who deserves a spot among the many membership’s finest within the Premier League period.
On Friday, he was named the Football Writers’ Association’s footballer of the year. However Fernandes is just not one for coveting particular person awards.
When he spoke to the media in October, he stated: “I do not see it that one participant is best than one other as a result of he wins extra trophies. Not each time one of the best participant on this planet is the one which wins the Ballon d’Or.
“I need to win trophies. I need to be recognised by the numerous good issues I did for the membership, for bringing one thing again to the membership, not simply my particular person numbers.”
United is not going to win a trophy this season, however there are nonetheless a few vital milestones forward of Fernandes.
He wants only one extra help to equal the person Premier League document of 20 in a single marketing campaign – collectively held by Arsenal nice Thierry Henry and former Manchester Metropolis star Kevin de Bruyne.
Fernandes is eight away from Manchester Metropolis’s Rayan Cherki within the Premier League’s assists chart this season, with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen third with 10 assists.
Beating the document clearly means loads to Fernandes, who shall be a key a part of Portugal’s World Cup squad this summer time. A lot so, considered one of his United team-mates informed him he felt Fernandes would beforehand have taken a shot towards Brentford not too long ago, relatively than arrange striker Benjamin Sesko. Fernandes rejected that notion.
Fernandes can also be favorite to win the celebrated PFA Gamers’ Participant of the Yr award, which Henry and De Bruyne each took twice.
Regardless of the dearth of main trophies, would the help document and one other participant of the yr award verify his standing as one of the vital artistic forces of the Premier League period?
