Bruno Fernandes: The Indispensable Player for Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes is never a simple storyline at Manchester United.
He is into the final year of his contract – with the club holding an option to tack on another 12 months – and the numbers behind the scenes no longer match his status on the pitch. Interest from Europe, including Galatasaray, has been real enough, but not to the point of prising him out of Old Trafford in this window. Still, as things stand, Marcus Rashford is the club’s top earner. On current influence, Fernandes could look at that wage bill and argue his case without blinking.
The idea of him actually going, even at 31, jars with United supporters. It cuts against what they see every week.
“He is the one that gets Manchester United ticking,” former United and England winger Ashley Young told Sky Sports. “There is a reason why he was voted player of the year by his fellow professionals and it's performances like this.
“He wants to be the best and he wants to win. He is huge for his club. If they don't have him, there is going to be a huge hole in this team.”
You saw exactly what Young meant at full-time on Sunday. The whistle went, the hat-trick was in the bag, but Fernandes’ first instinct was not to celebrate or pose for the cameras. He went straight to Benjamin Sesko, the substitute striker, to dissect a pass he had been trying to thread through in stoppage time. A tiny detail, but it tells you how his mind works: still chasing perfection when the points are already safe.
Only after that did he move down the line, shaking hands with opponents and officials, doing the usual post-match diplomacy. He had almost reached the edge of the scene when something clicked. He had forgotten the match ball. The symbol of his night’s work.
Fernandes spun back, asked for it, and referee Craig Pawson handed it over. Job done. Another game where his fingerprints were all over the result.
Strip his contribution out of this one and Manchester United might not win. Strip his contribution out of the last couple of seasons and you could say the same about a long list of matches. That is the tension at the heart of the club right now: how do you put a price on the player who keeps your team alive?
