Chris Sutton believes Manchester City have four midfielders who are simply better than Bruno Fernandes.
Over a month ago, Graeme Souness claimed that the Manchester United captain would be “fantastic” if he played for City.
Considering Fernandes is arguably United’s best player and has exhibited world-class traits at the club, many have questioned whether he would succeed at the Etihad Stadium.
Chris Sutton says Manchester City have four better midfielders than Bruno Fernandes
Pep Guardiola is a specialist at maximising a player’s potential, with Nathan Ake perhaps being the most recent example as he has managed to evolve into a world-class defender, which was not how he was viewed at AFC Bournemouth or Chelsea.
After all, in October, Rodri also told COPE during an interview that the Catalan boss elevated his game to a level he did not expect.
But as things stand, when Chris Sutton was asked on the Daily Mail’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast whether Bruno Fernandes could get into the Manchester City XI, he replied, “No.”
Chris Sutton went on to name the City midfielders who he believes are superior to Bruno Fernandes.
“These debates always come up, either you think of the Manchester City options in midfield and you know, [Kevin] De Bruyne, Rodri, [Bernardo] Silva, [Phil] Foden, I don’t think Bruno’s [Fernandes] better than any of those.”
“I’m not disputing that [he’s a lovely passer] but given a straight pick with the four players I’ve mentioned, I don’t know. It’s a debate to be had and everybody has their own preference, I’m not trying to dig Bruno out for that. But Manchester City, they are absolutely elite.”
“Bruno is an excellent footballer, you’ve [journalist Ian Ladyman] made some really good points about him but I don’t think he’d get into that Manchester City midfield ahead of the players I’ve mentioned.”
Bruno Fernandes must prove his worth in the here and now
In our view, Chris Sutton is bang on the money about Bruno Fernandes, who is also no longer performing at a level where such hypotheticals regarding how he fits in at Manchester City and other elite clubs should be mentioned.
This campaign, once again, the Portuguese international has been quite dire for Manchester United and while he did perform at a quality level last season, it was not to the extent that he merited a place in any elite club’s starting XI.
For Fernandes to be worthy of being named in such discussions, he must step up his game, especially considering he turns 30 in September this year.
