Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes could become the captain of the club according to a former manager. In January, United signed he Portuguese midfielder after a lot of speculation during the summer of 2019, which amounted to nothing. United had seen the error of their ways and were given a hint from former United players Patrice Evra and Cristiano Ronaldo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made the move for the 25-year-old. This season, the player scored 12 goals and eight assists in 22 appearances.
Fernandes also became the top scorer in the UEFA Europa League, scoring eight times in the competition for both Sporting Clube de Portugal and United, the latter reaching the semi-final stage of the competition, beaten by six-time holders Sevilla. In total, for both United and Sporting, Fernandes made 50 appearances, scoring 27 goals and 22 assists – a total of 49 goal contributions in 50 matches, which is a great statistic for the player. Andrea Stramaccioni managed the player whilst at Udinese and he feels the player could captain United. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:
“Bruno is a very good boy, a very good person. He is a really hard worker, he’s positive. When we were at Udinese he worked a lot and his approach was always positive.
“He can certainly captain Manchester United, he is a really talismanic player. He is loved by the fans, respected by his team-mates – even from opponents. To be captain of Manchester United is something really, really important. I hope he will be.
“I think now we don’t need to think about this kind of thing, he has to think about keeping his performance at a high level, as he is doing, and step by step gain the respect of everyone around him – the media, the fans – and continue to keep a high level.”
Fernandes has the leadership and the desire to captain United and based on that, I feel he would be a good captain for the club. That said, Harry Maguire is the current captain of the club after replacing Ashley Young, who left the club for Inter Milan during the January transfer window. For that reason, Fernandes will probably not be the captain of the club unless Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels he needs to change his current captain, which might seem unlikely moving forward.
A club like United would benefit from different types of leadership on and off the pitch and Fernandes could become an additional captain in the team, stepping up when he plays and Maguire does not. Also, leadership on the pitch can come from more than one player and Fernandes would thrive in giving extra guidance. You can see the player wants to achieve things at this club and that leave him standing out ahead of others at this time. The 25-year-old has come to United to win trophies.
It does not matter what opposition supporters say about United or any of their players, you can see that Fernandes’ arrival has caused something, hence the constant picking of United 22 penalties this season and the mocking of the player, who has scored mostly penalties for United. This gives an indication that United are being feared again. They were not awarded penalties because they are Manchester United. The penalties were awarded because United were fouled in the box.
Written by John Walker
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