--- title: "Manchester City: Premier League champions speak with agent of Bruno Fernandes" canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-city-premier-league-champions-speak-with-agent-of-bruno-fernandes/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Liam Togher" section: "Manchester City Football Club" published: "2019-07-16T19:50:35Z" modified: "2019-07-16T19:50:35Z" --- # Manchester City: Premier League champions speak with agent of Bruno Fernandes **The Manchester tug of war for the signature of Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes appears to have taken another twist.** According to the [Daily Star](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/791996/Man-City-Bruno-Fernandes-Man-Utd-transfer-news?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-football+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29), Andy Brassell claimed on the [On The Continent podcast](https://player.fm/series/on-the-continent) that the Premier League champions have spoken with the player’s agent about a possible deal. The [Daily Star](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/790078/Man-Utd-transfer-news-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-Glazer-Ed-Woodward-Bruno-Fernandes) reported earlier this month that Manchester United had opened talks with Sporting Lisbon about a £50million deal for the 24-year-old, with Brassell saying \[[via Daily Star](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/791996/Man-City-Bruno-Fernandes-Man-Utd-transfer-news?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-football+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29)\] that the Old Trafford club are favourites to sign the midfielder, but Manchester City have also spoken to his representatives. Brassell added \[[via Daily Star](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/791996/Man-City-Bruno-Fernandes-Man-Utd-transfer-news?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-football+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29)\] that the Portuguese club had received offers “[around the 50 million mark](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/791996/Man-City-Bruno-Fernandes-Man-Utd-transfer-news?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-football+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29)” but they would look for a fee closer to Fernandes’ release clause of €80m (£72m). ![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/THE-BREAKDOWN.png) Fernandes enjoyed a magnificent campaign for Sporting Lisbon last season, [scoring 32 goals and providing 18 assists in 53 matches](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bruno-fernandes/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/240306) in all competitions. That averages out at 0.6 goals and 0.34 assists per game. His [20 league goals](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bruno-fernandes/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/240306) made him the [second-highest scorer in the Portuguese Liga NOS](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/primeira-liga/startseite/wettbewerb/PO1/saison_id/2018) last term, beaten only by Benfica centre-forward Haris Seferovic with [23](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/primeira-liga/startseite/wettbewerb/PO1/saison_id/2018). Like [Kevin De Bruyne](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/73084/Show/Kevin-De-Bruyne) and [David Silva](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/14102/Show/David-Silva) at Manchester City, [Fernandes](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/123761/Show/Bruno-Fernandes) can operate in a central midfield role and further forward (as shown on WhoScored). Considering that, how do the trio of midfield technicians compare? Silva ended the season with [10 goals and 14 assists from 50 appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manchester-city/leistungsdaten/verein/281/plus/1?reldata=%262018), an average of 0.2 goals and 0.28 assists per game. De Bruyne missed almost four months of last season with a [knee ligament injury](https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/injury-break-has-helped-de-bruyne-pep-37628522.html), limiting him to [32 appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manchester-city/leistungsdaten/verein/281/plus/1?reldata=%262018) in all competitions. He [scored six goals and provided 11 assists](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manchester-city/leistungsdaten/verein/281/plus/1?reldata=%262018), giving him an average of 0.18 goals and 0.34 assists per game. Fernandes had by far the most prolific scoring statistics of the three and, while De Bruyne matched his assists average, Silva was narrowly behind the pair. Fernandes also came out on top in terms of key passes per game, his average of [3.2](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/123761/Show/Bruno-Fernandes) exceeding De Bruyne’s [1.9](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/73084/Show/Kevin-De-Bruyne) and Silva’s [2.2](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/14102/Show/David-Silva). However, the Portugal midfielder’s passing accuracy of [75.1%](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/123761/Show/Bruno-Fernandes) was the lowest of the three, with De Bruyne recording an [83.7%](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/73084/Show/Kevin-De-Bruyne) success rate and Silva boasting an impressive [87.8%](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/14102/Show/David-Silva). ![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Verdict.png) Although Fernandes needs to improve the accuracy of his passing, his magnificent goal involvement record makes it easy to see why Manchester City would like to add him to their squad. Also, with Silva [leaving the club at the end of next season](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/25/david-silva-leave-manchester-city-end-next-season), Guardiola is likely to look for a replacement who can seamlessly take over where the Spain midfielder leaves off, and Fernandes seems capable of doing just that. ***Manchester City fans, would you like to see your club signing Fernandes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!***