Manchester United U23 Player of the Year Alvaro Fernandez has joined Championship side Preston North End on loan.
Fernandez, 19, signed for the Red Devils from Real Madrid in the summer of 2020, making a big impression at academy level since.
The Spanish full-back has also signed a new contract with his parent club until June 2024, with the option of a further year, Manchester United have confirmed.
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Manchester United U23 Player of the Year Alvaro Fernandez Secures Preston North End Loan
✍️ 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗔́𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗼! 🇪🇸
Preston North End are delighted to confirm Álvaro Fernández has joined the club on loan from @ManUtd!
➡️ https://t.co/EWQhQCNCSP#pnefc pic.twitter.com/BV0dsTnrq4
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) July 26, 2022
What He Said
Upon joining Preston, Fernandez told the club website: “I’m very happy, and I want to start with this club as soon as possible. I wanted to go on loan and start to play at a high level.
“I’ve spoken to the manager about the football, it’s so good. I like his plans for the season so I want to start.”
Manager Ryan Lowe added: “Alvaro’s one we’ve monitored and one who was brought to our attention through our chief scout James Wallace who’s watched him numerous times.
“Once we’d watched him a little bit more we felt he could do a job for us down that side as a left wing back.
“He’ll challenge Robbie (Brady) to start. Robbie’s got the quality in his left foot of picking passes out, and Alvaro’s got different types of qualities in that he gets at people and he can get past them with high energy.
“He’s a fantastic asset to us. He’s going to be a fantastic football player for Manchester United, but we need Alvaro to help us in our Championship campaign for us to help him to hopefully one day make his Premier League debut for Manchester United.”
More on Fernandez
Fernandez is a talented full-back who operates best on the left. He has shown his ability to go forward is strong, scoring four and assisting nine in 46 U23 games at Manchester United.
He was deservedly named their Denzil Haroun (U23) Player of the Year at the end of the 2021/22 season and is one of the brightest sparks in the academy right now.
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According to journalist Simon Peach, Fernandez had loan interest from the Championship on deadline day in the January transfer window but United opted to keep him around for a little longer.
PNE confirm the signing of Alvaro Fernandez on a season long loan deal from Man United. #pnefc pic.twitter.com/qMRRTolKDd
— Tom Sandells (@TomSandells) July 26, 2022
The decision has now been made to allow him to leave the club on loan. He has chosen to join Preston North End after a trip to Deepdale at the weekend, where he watched them in a friendly v Leicester City.
It is claimed by The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell that Fernandez also had interest from the Bundesliga this summer.
Fernandez is sure to learn lots from his first real taste of senior men’s football and The Athletic add that Manchester United hope he can return and challenge for a place in the first team.
