Manchester United Captain Bruno Fernandes has been nothing short of talismanic for the Red Devils since his £46 Million move to Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon at the end of the winter transfer window in January 2020. Closing in on his fifth anniversary at the club, the Portugal international has made 250 appearances in all competitions, scoring 83 goals and providing 73 assists.
Joining the team under club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he immediately transformed a team desperately lacking in creativity and soon became the fulcrum of the side, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists in the final 14 games of the season. Throughout the Norwegian’s reign and into the short-lived tenure of Ralf Rangnick and the Erik ten Hag era that promised much and delivered two trophies in two seasons before being cut short last month, the Portuguese attacking midfielder was crucial to the club’s success and attacking output, raising standards and also bearing the brunt of criticism in darker times.
Bruno Fernandes In The Spotlight as Amorim Takes Charge
The Case For Bruno Fernandes
2024/2025 has been a mixed bag for Fernandes so far. An awful start, coinciding with the club’s worst start in Premier League history and the dismissal of Ten Hag, has given way to a period of relatively good form for the team and its captain under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, the team going four games unbeaten and the Portuguese star providing four goals and two assists in the same timeframe.
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Van Nistelrooy’s short stint in charge has given way to the permanent long-term appointment of Fernandes’ compatriot Ruben Amorim, from the United Captain’s former club Sporting Lisbon. At 30 years old, asking where the Red Devils’ talisman fits into his fellow Lusophone boss’s plans is a reasonable question. Can he adapt his game to Amorim‘s demands or is his time at Old Trafford coming to an end?
Put simply, Bruno Fernandes is a world-class football player. The numbers speak for themselves and the Portuguese is a vitally important member of Amorim’s squad: Captain, leader and creative spark that knits the attacking unit together.Indeed, it is no coincidence that the team’s form suffered as his form dipped, illustrating his importance to the side as well as how difficult it would be to find a replacement for him.
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Not only an extremely talented footballer – but Fernandes also shows up, his availability is actually quite astounding when you drill down into the numbers, missing just 15 games since joining the club, 12 through suspension and a mere three due to injury. As the new manager examines his squad and decides which players he wants to build his team around, the United Captain’s reliability and leadership skills will be instrumental in finding the stability needed to move up the Premier League table.
The obvious connections between player and coach include a shared nationality and a shared previous club. Although their time didn’t overlap, Fernandes having joined United two months before Amorim took the reins at Sporting Lisbon, the former Braga coach will know his Captain’s game intimately, that familiarity and shared heritage pointing to a positive relationship between the pair.
The Case Against Bruno Fernandes Under Ruben Amorim
At the start of this season, Fernandes struggled to find his form as former manager Ten Hag looked to implement a slower, more patient style of play. As a player who thrives in a game of a more transitional nature, with plenty of space to thread passes into amid a more chaotic game state, his impatience was ill-suited to the new demands of the Dutchman.
Amorim, based on his managerial career to date, strongly favours a 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 set-up, meaning Fernandes may need to adapt his game and position to fit into the new style of play. Having played on the right-hand side on several occasions under Ten Hag, he has been seen to struggle when not in the thick of the action centrally and forced to rigidly stick to one area of the pitch. In the new manager’s system, we may see him drop deeper to gain possession, although his relative lack of press resistance may count against him further back on the field.
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The question as to where the 30-year-old fits in will be an ongoing one this season, and we may see the new manager stick with four at the back, while he figures out the formula and the players that will suit his preferred system. In the longer term, given his age, the demands of Amorim’s high-pressing, fast-paced style and the inflexibility of his own playing style, Fernandes’ days at Old Trafford could be numbered.
Safe For Now?
Whilst we can expect wholesale changes in playing style and personnel in the long term, the new manager will be reluctant to make too many of them immediately. With Bruno Fernandes’ place in the team a near-permanent fixture and his role as captain and figurehead of a to-date underachieving squad of players, the wise bet would be for the club Captain to conserve his place for the time being. Can he adapt to Amorim’s system and rigorous demands? Time will be telling for the Portuguese magician.
