Bruno Fernandes was the marquee buy during the January transfer window before the coronavirus stopped football in its tracks. The Red Devils had been pursuing the former Sporting Lisbon man for quite some time, and finally secured the Portuguese international for an initial £46.5 million.
In less than three months with United, Fernandes is already starting to prove his worth.
Five Games, Three Assists, Two Goals
Fernandes has had a hand in a goal in every Premier League game he’s played for the Red Devils – during which time Man Utd have gone unbeaten. Coincidence? I think not.
Granted, it’s a small sample size, but no other player can match those numbers in the same period (the closest is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – four goals and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Wolves’ Diogo Jota – three goals and one assist each).
19 Shots
Part of United’s problem before Fernandes’ arrival was their inability to find the back of the net.
They’ve only scored 44 goals in the league after 29 games played, whereas the top four are all over 50 strikes at least. But Fernandes has proved he’s not afraid to let fly when in sight of the goal (19 attempted shots since February 1), and that’s led to renewed offensive output that has seen United bag eight goals in five games.
Player of the Month
What this all means is that Fernandes won the Premier League Player of the Month award for February, becoming the 20th Red Devil to win the award and the first Portuguese to do it since Deco in 2008 for Chelsea, according to Opta.
Fernandes has helped United close the gap to Chelsea in fourth to just three points, and Old Trafford is once again slowly becoming a fortress. But even the Theatre of Dreams can’t stand in the way of the coronavirus.