Bruno Fernandes played a key role in Man United’s win over Athletic Club on Thursday night.
Ruben Amorim’s men had one of their best games of the season in Spain as they beat the La Liga side 3-0, which has given the Red Devils a very good chance of reaching the Europa League final.
Fernandes scored two goals in the contest, which adds to the legacy the Portuguese star has created at Old Trafford over the last five years as the midfielder has been one of the only successful signings the Premier League giants have made recently.
Many ask the question, Where would Man United be without Fernandes?, which could have been found out had Man City brought the Portugal international to the Etihad Stadium in 2020.
Man City believed Bruno Fernandes was not good enough
Has uncertainty emerged around Fernandes’ future at Sporting CP in 2020, reports from Portugal stated that his advisers went into overdrive to try to find him a Premier League club and there was a belief that his game as a goalscoring, creative midfielder would make him a perfect fit in Pep Guardiola’s side.
However, the Man City boss did not agree as the Manchester club never got close to signing him, reported GOAL.
City regularly sends scouts to watch the top Portuguese sides and Fernandes was talked about at plenty of leading clubs after scoring 32 goals from midfield the season before his move to Man United.
While Fernandes was seen as a good prospect, he wasn’t seen as good enough for a position that wasn’t deemed a priority at the Etihad at the time, and there were questions around his ability to maintain possession.
The Portuguese star had a pass completion rate of 73.7 per cent before moving to England, which was considerably lower than the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Phil Foden, Rodri and Fernandinho, who were all in the low 90s or very high 80s.
Guardiola even responded to the rumours linking Man City to Fernandes at the time, which the Spanish coach emphatically shut down.
“I don’t know what it means ‘my type of player’,” Guardiola said. “I like defenders too and good headers. I don’t believe too much that these players are perfect for this manager. I think he is an exceptional player that is why Man United bought him.”
“I said many times it looks like we are linked with a thousand million players every month. So I don’t know if the agents want to create something to do that.
“But I think the club was not in talks with his agent about this player, but they link this guy and a thousand million more.”
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Bruno Fernandes’ record vs Man City
Fernandes has always been a fan of Kevin De Bruyne and had he moved to the Etihad in 2020, he would have got to play alongside the Belgian for many years, while also preventing the blue side of Manchester some pain.
The midfielder has a decent record against Man City having played in 15 contests against Guardiola’s side, winning five, drawing two and losing eight.
Fernandes has scored four goals and assisted a further four against City and when the 30-year-old contributes, United normally secure a win, which was evident in the 2024 FA Cup final.
However, Man United was the destined path for the Portuguese star and is now been tasked with helping Man United forward under Amorim, who was once linked with replacing Guardiola at Man City.
There was no place for Fernandes at the Etihad at the time and even in the years after, as Man City would go on to win four Premier League titles in a row, which proves that Guardiola was correct to stick with what he had.
