Okay, so the bar isn’t that high. Having brought in Angel di Maria for £72m, Harry Maguire for £80m and Paul Pogba for £89m, Manchester United’s transfer signings have been far more miss rather than hit in recent times.
Those signings have helped contribute to the last nine years of decline at Old Trafford, since they last scooped the title and sat on the top of the English game. Then, just before the transfer window shut in 2020, they finally got their man, spending an initial £47m to bring Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes to the club.
Fernandes has been utterly magnificent since his arrival in Manchester. No player has had quite the same impact on the club as the man hailed as the ‘Portuguese Magnifico’ by the Stretford End. Even Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who enjoyed his return to Manchester this summer, has not made as great an impact on the team as Fernandes has over the last 24 months.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United were struggling down in seventh after a poor start to the season when Fernandes came in midway through the 2019-20 season, and it's fair to say his impact was instantaneous. He arrived with the club on a downward trend, and got them competing again.
For the second half of that season, Manchester United didn’t lose a Premier League match, having lost eight before he walked through the door. They climbed up from seventh to finish third in the Premier League and vitally secure Champions League football while on a personal note, Fernandes bagged 15 goal contributions in 14 league matches. Such was his impact, he was awarded Manchester United’s famous Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, despite having played in just over a third of the season.
If people thought that was a fluke, beginner's luck if you will, then Fernandes went about proving he was one of the best in the world over the following campaign. Only Harry Kane and Mo Salah outscored his 18 goals in the Premier League, which for a midfielder was absolutely exceptional, while he had 35 goal contributions across 58 games, as he picked up Manchester United’s POTY for the second successive season.
The club finished second that term, due to his performances, while they also lost the Europa League final on penalties as Solskjaer came so close to ending that trophy drought. Ultimately, he would lose his job following the 4-1 defeat at Watford in November, but Bruno has continued to perform - certainly in Europe.
Even with Ronaldo coming in to steal the headlines (and Fernandes’ penalties) and the change in manager, the midfielder has put in several top performances. In the Champions League, as United topped their group, he scored a remarkable six goals in five appearances and will hope to continue that good form with Atletico Madrid up next.
His league goals may have dried up slightly, with seven in 21, but Fernandes has consistently shown that he is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. His consistency itself has also been unbelievable when it comes to avoiding injuries. He has missed just 12 days, resulting in an absence of one match, over the past five years. It's been a rough road for United in the transfer window in recent times, but two years ago, they got it absolutely spot on. He is now valued at well over double what United paid for him, but what he brings to the club is absolutely priceless.
As United once again fight for Champions League football, it won’t be Marcus Rashford or even Cristiano Ronaldo that fires them to success. Once again, they will turn to their most influential player - if Fernandes is on form, United win matches. Two years on, he’s United’s greatest signing of the past decade.
