Fernandes still makes United tick

The Sporting star arrived with a big reputation but would instantly endear himself to supporters and transform Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team with his creativity from midfield.

"My love of Manchester United really started when I used to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play and, ever since then, I have been a big fan of this great club," he said at the time. "For me to now play for Manchester United feels incredible, I have worked hard to get to this moment and I can promise the fans that I will give everything for the badge to help bring us more success and trophies."

The Reds were not in good form when he arrived, having lost three of our previous four Premier League fixtures. However, Fernandes would not taste defeat, in all competitions, until his 18th outing in the red shirt and, even then, he scored in the Emirates FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.

Our Portuguese magnifico netted again in the next loss, the Europa League semi-final against Sevilla, after scoring the winner past FC Copenhagen at the last-eight stage.

Remarkably, he ended his first campaign at the club unbeaten at league level.

Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Covid pandemic meant fans could not be present for much of his outstanding work in his maiden campaign but the connection with Bruno always felt strong, right from the outset.

It was quickly apparent he was a vital cog in the machine, putting in maximum effort at all times, covering the ground and emerging as the creative hub, registering assists and goals aplenty. He was unflappable from the penalty spot too, which came in extremely handy when we had a spell of getting quite a few of those, and barely missed a game - hating the idea of taking a rest.

In short, Bruno was the man to make United tick. When he played well, so did the team.

The fans flooded back, and showed their appreciation for Bruno's efforts, with the player taking on more and more responsibility, and leading by example. Such a passionate figure, his determination to win is always evident.

A dream to interview, because of his honesty, engaging nature and obsession with football, his role in the midfield has changed over time but he remains a key provider, and taker, of chances. Supplying the ammunition for the forwards is an important aspect of his play, in addition to pressing and exerting his influence all over the pitch. We have come to admire his long passes out to the flanks, particularly when countering in the closing stages of matches.

When extending his contract in 2022, he told MUTV's Stewart Gardner: “Obviously, I’m really happy, it’s been pretty good, the time that I’ve spent with the club and, as I said on the first day, it was a dream come true and it still is a dream. This will be a dream for me until my last day in the club. So I’m happy that my last day is longer, I have more time to be in the club, to enjoy it and to keep dreaming.”

Fernandes is fuelled by winning silverware and can feel a little unlucky that he has not landed more than the Carabao Cup since joining the club.

United lost a penalty shootout to Villarreal in the Europa League final. He scored from the spot in the Emirates FA Cup final loss to Manchester City last season, which prevented a domestic cup double, after being the first Reds captain to lift a trophy since 2017 when Newcastle United were beaten 2-0 at Wembley, sharing the honour with Harry Maguire.

Of course, Bruno took over the captaincy full time last July, in another indication of how highly he is regarded by Erik ten Hag, and is one of the leaders at the club. There is a burning desire to achieve more at Old Trafford and his indefatigable efforts will be key to this, speaking eloquently about the FA Cup after the win at Newport County, he appreciated the importance of the competition to both United and the wider country.

It is a competition he has special regard for and the strike at Rodney Parade was his seventh in 16 games in it. Overall, he has already racked up 214 games (scoring 71 goals) and, for context, this has moved him into the top 100 all-time appearance makers (one place above Fred in 101st).

You can bet on him hunting down many of those ahead of him and the reliability of our no.8 is one of his top traits.

We look forward to seeing what is in store in the next phase of his United career, as he strives to lead the Reds to success.

The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.