ESPN FC pundit Steve Nicol has urged Manchester United to move for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes this summer.
Fernandes scored 32 times in 2018/19 – double what United top scorer Paul Pogba managed last year – while mixed reports in the Portuguese press include claims from Correio da Manha (via Sport Witness) of an agreement in principle between all parties for the midfielder’s transfer.
Nicol felt that United are currently low on ‘great players’ – something which Fernandes would supposedly change should he make an Old Trafford switch.
Speaking on ESPN FC, he said (via The Daily Express): “Manchester United don’t have many great players, they need great players.
“They need to start doing something. We’ve got a couple of weeks until the start of the season and pretty much, they’ve done nothing.
“He was linked with Liverpool last season and I was hoping that they would sign him. Obviously, it didn’t come to fruition.
“I think he’s exactly what Manchester United need right now.”
Manchester United could certainly be in the market for an attacking midfielder – with Juan Mata perhaps their only senior figure in that position – although Andreas Pereira may make the step up soon, having featured 22 times last season.
But with their strikers misfiring (Romelu Lukaku netting just 15 times in 45 games last term, compared to Marcus Rashford’s 13 in 47), perhaps United could do with a goal threat from other areas – and with Mata and Pereira scoring a combined total of seven goals last season, the evidence suggests Fernandes could be worth a shot for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
With a hand in 50 goals last season for Sporting, Fernandes could arguably stake a claim to replace the goals of the reportedly outgoing Lukaku, should the Belgian be on his way to Juventus.
But in any case, the recent form of the 24-year-old Portuguese provides plenty of evidence that he could improve United’s fortunes in attack, which could lead to justifying Nicol’s positive appraisal of the midfielder.
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