It was back in the summer of 2019 when Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for Bruno Fernandes.
The current Manchester United captain was coming off the back of a record-breaking season in Portugal with Sporting CP, who he had just led to the Taca de Portugal (Portuguese cup) and where he had become the highest-scoring midfielder the country had ever seen.
The former Udinese playmaker hit 33 goals that season in all competitions for the Lisbon giants and was crowned the Primeira Liga’s player of the year for the second time.
Given his form and pedigree, significant transfer noise surrounded the Portugal international that summer with Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham also among the teams linked with his signature.
He ultimately stayed put with Sporting before signing for Man Utd in the early stages of 2020 for a fee of around €80 million.
The Red Devils have been at a low ebb since Fernandes joined, winning only a Carabao Cup, but the 29-year-old has won the fans’ player of the year award on two occasions.
This season Fernandes has scored 15 goals in 45 matches across all competitions but United have been nowhere in the Premier League and slipped out of the Champions League at the group stages.
Fan ire is at an all-time high and pressure mounting on beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag.
ALDRIDGE SLAMS BRUNO FOR ‘HORRIBLE ATTITUDE’
The club are experiencing a litany of problems and in the eyes of former Liverpool striker John Aldridge, they begin with the behaviour of the skipper.
Aldridge, a league title winner who scored 63 goals in 104 Liverpool games, admits he WANTED Bruno at Liverpool before his Old Trafford transfer but adds the midfielder’s attitude now ‘stinks’.
“There is so much wrong at United and you can start with the captain Bruno Fernandes, who goes about the pitch with a horrible attitude,” he wrote in the Sunday World.
“He’s a really good player and I wanted him to come to Liverpool before he went to United, but his antics on the pitch drive me mad.
“A United legend like Bobby Charlton would be disgusted to see the theatrics of a captain who rolls around, cheats, dives and waves his arms at anyone and everyone over the course of a match.
“He’s meant to be the leader of this team and his attitude stinks, which epitomises so much about the club.”
