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Manchester United are apparently frontrunners in the chase to sign Portuguese sensation Bruno Fernandes. United have opened talks with Sporting CP after having scouted the player for a while and in doing so have moved ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool, according to a report on Metro (via Abola).
The attacking midfielder reportedly has a €100m release clause but it is believed a bid of around £50m could be enough to get the club to let go of the player.
BRUNO FERNANDES- FACT FILE
Fernandes played most of his youth football in local club Boavista in Porto before making a move to Novara Calcio in Italy. He impressed for the senior team playing in the Serie B which led to a move to Udinese in 2013.
He then went on to play a chunk of his senior football in Italy for Udinese and Sampdoria notching up 16 goals and 16 assists in 130 games for the two clubs. His displays in the Serie A earned him a move to Sporting CP in June 2017 and he has grown leaps and bounds since.
BRUNO FERNANDES TO MANCHESTER UNITED: PERFECT PLAYER FOR OLE
The Portuguese has scored 39 goals along with notching up 33 assists for his current club in 97 appearances across all competitions. But he has taken his game to another level this season bringing a dose of ruthlessness in his game which is still highly technical. In just 23 appearances in the league, Bruno has 12 goals and 9 assists which is a goal involvement every 97 minutes.
Hence, the above numbers clearly show his efficiency and impact in the final third which will be welcome at most top clubs in Europe.
Speaking of top clubs, Manchester United are at their absolute peak since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and after last night’s historic win against PSG in France, the club seems to be well on their way to be the force it once used to be with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the helm this time around. The players have roundly backed the Norwegian to get the permanent managerial post and we believe it is a matter of time before it is made official.
And while things are looking up for United, Ole will know that to compete at a consistent level with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, the club will need to make a number of signings in the summer.
Someone like Bruno Fernandes can be an excellent addition in midfield in that regard. At 24, he is at the perfect age and will be entering his peak years as a footballer and his technical prowess and end product mean he will be able to carry the goalscoring load along with the likes of Pogba, Rashford and Lukaku.
While the likes of Herrera, McTominay and Pereira have been decent when called upon, it has usually been Pogba who has had to chip in with a moment of brilliance either in the form of an assist or a goal from the midfield.
Matic and Herrera will be 31 and 30 by the start of the next season and hence are not the long-term solutions to the club’s midfield issues. The likes of Pogba, McTominay, Pereira and to an extent Fred are the future of United’s midfield.
Throw Fernandes into that mix, and we have got a balanced set of highly talented footballers who can help Ole take United back to the summit of English football.
Stats Courtesy: Transfermarkt
