Captain Bruno Fernandes is determined to follow his own path, and based on his current form, Manchester United wouldn’t want it any other way.
The Portuguese international delivered another outstanding performance, scoring his fifth goal in a week to help United secure a 3-0 Premier League victory over Leicester.
Following his hat-trick in Thursday’s 4-1 Europa League triumph against Real Sociedad, where he also provided two assists, Fernandes continued his fine run by netting in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal. His contributions have now set up a quarter-final showdown with Lyon.
Despite criticism from former United captain Roy Keane last month, who remarked that “talent is not enough,” Fernandes responded with a stellar display as Ruben Amorim’s team climbed to 13th place with the win at King Power Stadium.
The 30-year-old midfielder, who has registered 16 goals and 15 assists this season, dismissed the criticism, stating, “I do things in my own way.”
“Obviously it’s not nice to hear those things about you, but at the same time it motivates you and obviously people think there’s a lot of things you need to improve.
“You have to take it in a positive understanding that whatever people are saying, if it’s a margin to improve or not. I have a huge respect for Roy Keane.
“Obviously not everything I do everyone will like or think in the same way and I respect everyone’s opinion and I have huge respect for Roy Keane and I accept there’s a lot of margin for improvement in my game, in my leadership and everything I do in my life.”
Fernandes has now been directly involved in 31 goals across all competitions this season—trailing only Mohamed Salah (54) and Erling Haaland (33) among Premier League players in goal contributions.
Since making his United debut in February 2020, only Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City (90) has recorded more assists in all competitions for teams in Europe’s top five leagues than Fernandes (80).
Following United’s comfortable victory over second-bottom Leicester, Fernandes told Sky Sports, “We knew it would be difficult and we had to be at our very best level. First half, we committed mistakes in the transition, but second half we were better at getting control of the game and getting the goals.”
Reflecting on their approach against Arsenal, he added, “Against Arsenal we were a little bit more deep on the pitch, we felt they didn’t have much up front in terms of pace.”
“I think you can see some progress, but that has to go on and on. We have important games.
“I want to score many goals as I can as it’s a big part of my game and I need to assist my team-mates. I need to get on to the edge of the box and get goals as it is one of my qualities.”
United manager Ruben Amorim also praised Fernandes for his impact, highlighting his role in setting up goals for Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho before scoring a late goal himself.
Amorim stated, “He’s a special guy in that aspect, he is always ready, he can recover quite well. I don’t know the future but I’m reading what the performance department tell me, the numbers, and then what I see in the game.”
He continued, “I always see a Bruno that is dangerous and one Bruno that can recover in every situation. So he is going to stay there.
“I already knew Bruno. What surprised me the most is the way he works every day, that was a surprise.
“We in Portugal see Bruno with that frustration and I was really surprised, he is a very good professional. You can understand that frustration, a surprise for me.”
To read more stories like this, click sports.