Bruno Fernandes: Why Manchester United and Tottenham can’t afford to pass on the Portuguese

Over the past two years, Sporting Portugal fans have anxiously awaited the day one of Europe’s elite teams would sign their midfield maestro, Bruno Fernandes. When the 2018 Alcochete training ground attacks led to a mass exodus of Sporting’s top talent, Fernandes remained with the club, taking the captain’s armband and his natural role as the leader of the team.

After a 2018/19 campaign that saw him break Frank Lampard’s single-season record by goals from a midfielder, a move seemed imminent. Manchester United was said to have a great interest in the player, but a bid never materialised. Tottenham wanted him too, agreeing to a contract with Fernandes only to see Sporting reject their bid.

As the transfer rumours circulated, a leaked story claims Manchester United were never seriously pursuing Fernandes. With his Portuguese Primeira Liga passing percentage lingering around 75%, Manchester United worried about his turnover tendencies. English newspapers claimed that scouts could not recommend signing Fernandes because his tendency to play the spectacular pass would not fit within Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s tactical philosophy.

So far in the 2019/20 season, Fernandes is repeating his incredible 2018/19 numbers with Sporting. His presence with the Portuguese national team is increasing too, both in the regularity of his playing time and his significance within Fernando Santos’ tactics. His national team colleague, Cristiano Ronaldo, shared his surprise at Fernandes’ lack of transfer movement, saying “In the national team, you have [Joao] Cancelo, Fernandes, who nobody knows why he doesn’t leave [Sporting].”

With Manchester United and Tottenham struggling to score goals and the January transfer window nearly upon us, the rumour mill is again circling the José Alvalade Stadium. José Mourinho’s hire at Tottenham has only fanned the flames of a transfer.

In this tactical analysis, we’ll dive deep into Fernandes’ statistics, playing responsibilities and playing style. The objective of this scout report is to look beyond the “his passing completion percentage is too low” myth and show how he solves the attacking issues at Manchester United and Tottenham. After passing on Fernandes last summer, we’ll examine whether either team can afford to pass on him in January.

Key Passes

As the transfer rumour swirled last summer, the football world wondered when, not if, Fernandes was leaving. Manchester United’s reluctance to table a bid due to Fernandes’ pass completion percentage was a surprising revelation. For a team that desperately needed an attacking central midfielder to complement Paul Pogba’s creative passing, this move seemed like the perfect fit.

If passing percentage is the most significant measure of fit at Manchester United, then refusal to bid is justified. 75.1% is not an impressive number. It’s said that United acknowledged central attacking midfielders will typically have a lower pass completion percentage than the other positions due to the creative, direct nature of their passes.

When analysing a player’s turnovers, it’s important to gauge the impact of the turnover, including the chances created for the opposition and lost opportunities for the attacking team. In his own half and without numbers behind him, Fernandes plays a very simple passing game. Managing risk is the key. When he turns the ball over, it’s typically in a low risk, high reward scenario.

As his team progresses up the field, Fernandes transitions into playmaker mode, especially with Sporting. In the summer of 2018, Sporting lost several key players to voided contracts or underwhelming sales, including William Carvalho, Gelson Martins and Rui Patricio. Promising young attackers Daniel Podence and Rafael Leão left too. That left Sporting with a depleted squad and few assets. As those players left, the burden fell squarely on Fernandes’ shoulders.

As Sporting continues to recover from the training ground disaster, they’ve had to rely primarily on lower-rated academy products, veteran castoffs and low-cost place holders. When he plays for Sporting, Fernandes doesn’t take risks because he’s reckless or unaware of possible negative outcomes. He takes those risks because he’s the lone elite player on the team. Without him in the lineup, Sporting lost to minnows Famalicão and was largely outplayed at home.

Playing for the Portuguese national team is a different story. With the immense quality around him, Fernandes plays a more defined, calculated role. His pass completion percentage improves, but he drops in the key passes category. During the UEFA Nations League, his recorded stats of 80% and 2 respectively. Those two key passes per game equal Pogba’s Manchester United tally in the current season, which is easily tops on the team.

Since his supporting cast with the Portuguese national team offers a better comparison to Manchester United and Tottenham, it’s fitting to look at examples of his play with that squad. It must be noted that he started slowly for Portugal, but, as he learns his teammate’s tendencies (which is especially key for the creative playmakers) and adapts to their level of play, he’s quickly growing in influence and putting in excellent performances.

With Ukraine committing 10 players to defend behind the ball within 24 metres of the goal, Fernandes astutely drops deeper. This additional space allows him to better perceive his options and look for a way through the defence. As he receives the ball, Ronaldo darts behind his defender. Fernandes anticipates the run and drops a mouth-watering lofted pass to the near post.