Bruno Fernandes has been crowned the best player in the Premier League this season but years ago he nearly ended up playing in the Championship.
It has been six years since Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in a £46 million transfer deal.
Since then, Fernandes has dominated creative stats in the Premier League and cemented himself as a United legend.
It is well known that Fernandes nearly joined Tottenham just months before making his move to Old Trafford. But he has also revealed that he came close to joining a Championship club.
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Bruno Fernandes nearly joined Watford
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, Fernandes opened up about his collapsed move to Championship side Watford.
“To be honest, I was on the edge of coming to Watford on loan. Because it’s the same owners [as Udinese].”
“Udinese had a big squad and they said ‘we going to send you to Watford’.
“The Sporting Director called me and said we don’t want you to go anymore, the manager wants you to stay, he says he loves you and he loves your attitude.”
Fernandes played for Udinese between 2013 and 2016, and clearly the initial plan was to go on loan to English side Watford.
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Bruno Fernandes’ career path before joining Man United
When United signed Fernandes, he was a 25-year-old talent who was thriving at Sporting Lisbon.
Fernandes immediately hit the ground running at Old Trafford and has not looked back since. He built up an impressive portfolio before moving to England.
Fernandes’ career started when he broke through the youth ranks at Boavista. He spent his early career in Italy, first with Novara and then three years at Udinese.
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Sporting signed Fernandes in 2017 for a £7 million fee. In his first year, he won the Primeira Liga Player of the Year.
Now, he is going for the PFA Player of the Year in England after a sensational season with United.
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