Published 15:30 IST, January 11th 2020
Manchester United set to sign Bruno Fernandes; a real deal or another Sneijder saga?
Manchester United are close to signing Sporting Lisbon's creative midfielder Bruno Fernades as per the latest transfer rumours. Here's what we make of it.
Premier League heavyweights Manchester United are struggling at the moment and are in desperate need of signing up new players in this month's transfer window. The one name that has popped up in the transfer rumours is that of Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes. The Sporting Lisbon player has been a long-time target of the Red Devils and a move in January seems probable as United look to push for a Top 4 finish in the Premier League. Recent football transfer rumours suggest that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mike Phelan have been scouting the player and the club is very close to completing his signing.
Manchester United need Bruno Fernandes and here is why
Bruno Fernandes plies his trade for Sporting Lisbon in the Primeira Liga. Fernandes is versatile and can put in a shift at central midfield or attacking midfield and his vision to pick a pass is what makes him a desirable transfer target. In a Manchester United side that lacks creative midfielders, Bruno Fernandes instantly settles in and if the Portuguese can repeat some of his numbers in the Premier League, that would solve plenty of issues for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United.
The creative midfielder featured in 53 games across all competitions for Sporting Lisbon, scoring a mind-boggling 32 goals and further providing 18 assists, taking his goal contribution to 50+ in the season. Bruno Fernandes has continued his rich vein of form this season as well, scoring and assisting 13 goals each in just 24 games this season. With star midfielder Paul Pogba out with a recurring ankle injury and Scott McTominay also out injured, Bruno Fernandes adds much-needed confidence and depth to the Manchester United midfield, while also increasing the quality of the final ball for the attackers to feed on.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United for Bruno Fernandes?
Manchester United were heavily linked to Bruno Fernandes’ signature in the summer transfer window but the move quite obviously failed to materialise considering that the Portuguese midfielder is still at Sporting Lisbon. Late in the transfer window, Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur chased his signature but in the end opted to sign Giovanni Lo Celso from Real Betis.
Tottenham since then have a new manager in Jose Mourinho, and while that might put off Tottenham’s link to Fernandes, it would be interesting to see if Tottenham chase the Portuguese midfielder considering that Jose is Portuguese and Christian Eriksen is on his way out. So a battle between Jose Mourinho and his former club Manchester United can ensue, but the officials at Old Trafford would be happy that Tottenham’s name hasn’t cropped up since the January transfer window opened.
From Wesley Sneijder to Toni Kroos, is Bruno Fernandes another addition to the elite list?
Manchester United has for long been a club that attracts some of the biggest names in world football. Every transfer window, the Red Devils are in the thick of the football transfer rumours and quite a few of them actually happen. The likes of Wesley Sneijder, Nico Gaitan, Julian Draxler, Kalidou Koulibaaly, Toni Kroos have been associated with a transfer to Old Trafford in the recent past and were reportedly ‘close’ to signing for Manchester United, but never made a move to the Premier League. So it might be prudent that the Old Trafford faithful don’t make their songs until and unless Bruno Fernandes turns up in a Manchester United jersey on the field.
Updated 12:52 IST, January 13th 2020