Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra has confirmed that he sought out the advise of former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo during the time when United were considering a move to sign Sporting Clube de Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes. The 25-year-old has had a good season, both for his former club and United, making 50 appearances, scoring 27 goals and 22 assists – 49 goal contributions. Fernandes has played 22 times for United, scoring 12 goals and eight assists.
Fernandes and Ronaldo play together for Portugal so Evra thought he would get some good insight from the Portuguese winger, getting in contact with him on behalf of United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It was enough for United to get the deal done, which should have been completed last summer in my opinion, which could have seen United have a much better 2019/20 season. Evra recently spoke to The Guardian, where he was quoted as saying:
“When they wanted to sign Bruno Fernandes, Ole texted me. I asked for advice from Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Cristiano says: ‘Bruno’s a good guy and very professional.’ I say: ‘Ole, I’ve spoken with Cristiano. Let’s go for it.’
“And Fernandes had a massive impact. Without him I don’t think we would have qualified for the Champions League.”
Fernandes has been a revelation for United since making his debut on the 1 February against Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite that match being a 0-0 draw. The Portuguese magnifico has recently given the warning that he is going to become more lethal next season, which will be something the 25-year-old will be confident with after making the impact that he has done at the club. However, Evra is not so confident about United’s chances of taking on Liverpool for the Premier League title, saying:
“United can’t challenge Liverpool or Manchester City. Not yet. There’s been massive damage but we’re moving in the right direction.
“United have qualified for the Champions League. It’s not a big achievement but it’s massive progress from where we’ve come. I love Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer].”
United require some major investment to bring up the quality of the squad this summer. Whilst the preferred starting XI is strong, United do not have the same kinds of quality across the remainder of the squad with many players struggling to perform to the level the manager wants them to. The likes of Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira could leave the club this summer, failing to make the grade for the last two or three seasons now. United will need to rotation throughout the season, so will need the quality to do that without the team struggling on the pitch, like they have done this season, which was there to see towards the end of the restart.
Written by John Walker
