On the 30th of January 2020, Manchester United Football Club completed the signing of Bruno Fernandes. The attacking midfielder joined from Sporting Clube de Portugal for a fee of £49.5 million. It seemed as though Manchester United spent a great deal of time haggling over the fee before agreeing to the deal but even if the Red Devils had forked out double the amount they paid, they would be happy with their return.
Fernandes made 137 appearances for Sporting Clube de Portugal, scoring 63 goals, and recording 52 assists. It is a tremendous record but no one could have predicted the impact he would have on Manchester United. Has the signing of Bruno Fernandes completed the Manchester United puzzle and can they win the title due to the contribution of the Portuguese international?
When Fernandes joined Manchester United, the club was struggling to qualify for the Champions League. At the time of writing, Fernandes has been eligible to win seven Premier League player of the month awards and he has been awarded the honour four times. As of the 27th of January, Fernandes has played 19 times for Manchester United in the Premier League in the 2020/21 season, scoring 11 goals, and creating 8 goals for his teammates.
In the fourth round of the FA Cup against Liverpool at Old Trafford, The Portuguese midfielder was left on the substitutes bench due to the amount of football he had played. However, with the score at 2-2, Fernandes came off the bench to produce a piece of magic from a free kick and seal a 3-2 win for his team. The impact he had on that game and his overall influence on the team in such a short space of time has led to direct comparisons with be great Eric Cantona.
Cantona is widely considered to be the main catalyst for the development of Manchester United into a major force in the mid-1990’s. Manchester United averaged 1.6 points per game in the Premier League and a 41% win rate in the early stages of the 1992/93 season. This vastly improved in the 18 months following the arrival of the Frenchman and he took Manchester United to their first Premier League title.
Fernandes joined the club in January 2020, when the team was averaging just 1.4 points per game, with a win rate of 38%. Including results up to the 6th of January, Fernandes had played 30 times for Manchester United, with a win rate of 63% in the Premier League, winning an average of 2.2 points per game. Cantona may have had a slightly better win rate than Fernandes during his first two seasons at Manchester United but the comparison is justified.
The Premier League table since Fernandes arrived at the club shows Manchester United are the best performing team. It is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for a club who seemed to be lost. Go back 12 months and the only thoughts around Old Trafford was if Manchester United were going to finish in the top four but now there is serious talk of winning the Premier League title. Manchester City remains the favourites with the bookmakers but Manchester United are second in the betting at 6/1.
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Fernandes is in contention to win personal honours this season and if he pushes Manchester United to the Premier League title, the PFA Player of the Year award will be as good as won. Fernandes is currently the favourite for that honour, at 6/4 and this shows just how vital he has become to the Red Devils.
