Bruno Fernandes has won the Premier League Player of the Month award for the month of February. The Portuguese playmaker hit the ground running after signing a £46.4 million during the winter break. He transferred from Sporting Lisbon. He has quickly become one of the most promising players in the Manchester United roster.
He is the second player in Manchester United history to win the award in his first month with the club. His current teammate Anthony Martial managed to win the award in his debut month five years ago. This caps off Fernandes’ brilliant first month with United. He also won the club’s Player of the Month award and the PFA Player of the Month award as well.
He has showcased his ability to easily distribute the ball to his teammates. In February, he made 371 successful passes with a 79.4% passing accuracy. He scored three goals and dished out two assists in February.
He has become a major player in United’s offence. He had 24 shot attempts on February, 10 of which was on target. He has also been successful on the defensive end of the field. He has made 12 successful tackles in his short time with the Red Devils.
Ever since he arrived at Old Trafford, United has yet to drop a game. In their last nine matches across all competitions, they have won seven times and drew two times. Fernandes is very happy with how Old Trafford is treating him.
He said, ‘At the training ground, you can find everything. When I arrived for medicals, everything impressed me. At Old Trafford you warm up with nobody in the stands, you hear nothing in the tunnel, and then you enter the pitch and you hear an incredible noise. if you talk about stadiums that everyone knows, the most historic are San Siro and Old Trafford’.
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Fernandes cites his national team teammate Cristiano Ronaldo as his inspiration. Similar to Fernandes, Ronaldo was a star player for Manchester United in the past. Ronaldo joined the Red Devils in 2003 and won three Premier League titles with the club. He left United when he joined Real Madrid after a then world-record transfer.
Fernandes said, ‘He welcomed me very well to the Portugal national team. We look at him as an idol, he has always been an idol for me. I followed his example, he is one of my favourites. When I was called up by Portugal, he came to me saying, “You are doing a good job at Sporting, I like it.” Words like these make the difference’.
Fernandes has already been compared to the likes of midfield greats like Eric Cantona and Paul Scholes. He has also been praised by former United legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane after his spectacular performances for the Red Devils. Fernandes was extremely pleased when he heard the greats’ comments about him.
He said, ‘It’s so nice to hear these kinds of words from legends. When I react when I lose the ball I am angry, every time I want more. I think this is the difference between me and some players. If you want to be better and better and be one of the best, you need to look for the ball. When in the team you have one, two or three players who have that desire, you push the others’.
His recent performance has raised serious questions of Paul Pogba’s future at Manchester United who has been dealing with issues to his ankle.