General football news
Bruno Fernandes wants ‘many years’ at Man Utd after reacting to first year at club
Yesterday, marked one year since Bruno Fernandes signed for Man Utd and what a year it has been for the 26-year-old.
He made his debut on the 1st February – only two days after arriving in Manchester – against Wolves which ended in a 0-0 draw. All it took was 90 minutes in a red shirt for the Portuguese midfielder to make his impression on Utd fans, being awarded Man of the Match with 48% of votes on the Official Manchester United App.
Fans could barely hide their excitement about Utd’s newest signing, creating a special chant and nickname for playmaker during his first match, “Bruno, Bruno, Bruno. Came from Sporting like Christiano. He goes left he goes right, makes defenders look s***e, he’s our Portuguese magnifico”.
This admiration for Fernandes has only grown since and it is fair to say he has become an integral part of the Utd squad. Some spectators have questioned whether Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may be relying too much on the Portuguese international as he has competed in every Premier League game in the last 12 months, missing out on only three cup games overall.
Not only has Fernandes played in the majority of fixtures but he has also been striving to make every minute count whilst he’s on the pitch, racking up a total of 46 goal contributions in his 51 appearances. It is therefore no wonder the Portuguese ‘magnifico’ has made history being the only player to be crowned as Premier League Player of the Month four times in a calendar year.
This equals the number won by Christiano Ronaldo and puts him only one behind Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie to equal a Man Utd record. Sergio Aguero is the player holding the current record with 7 wins in total, however if Fernandes is to continue at his current rate, he is on track to taking the top spot.
Solskjaer reflected on how impressed he’s been with Fernandes in the past year saying,
“He’s had a fantastic 12 months with us and we’ve got to say we hit, if not the jackpot, then we made a good decision. He’s been worth every penny. He’s come in and really influenced the team in a good way and we’re just happy that he’s here with us for many years.”
Following yesterday’s game against Arsenal which ended in a 0-0 draw, Fernandes took to Instagram to reminisce about his first year as a red and set out his targets for the future:
“Definitely not the result I wanted to celebrate my first year as a Red, but we’ll keep working to improve.
It’s been an absolute honour to play football with the Man Utd badge on my chest.
The history of this football club was built over wins, many wins. I came here to help on continuing that legacy, and I won’t rest until I do it.
I want to thank all the fans for your outstanding support. Hopefully, this was only the first of many years together.
Glory glory Man United!”
Clearly, Fernandes’ journey with Utd is only just beginning and it looks like he is determined to continue working hard and putting in top performances until he’s holding a trophy in his hand.
