Manchester United confirmed arguably their most important deal of the window recently by announcing Bruno Fernandes’ contract extension.
The ace in hand is always more worthy than the one in the deck and Fernandes has been that ace for United and much more.
His drive and passion for the club, coupled with his world-class qualities has made him a fans’ favourite, and a similar affection for him from the players and managers he has played under. That makes Bruno Fernandes’ contract extension the crown jewel of this transfer window.
After the announcement, manager Erik ten Hag and other Man United players and staff were asked to say one word to describe the Portuguese, and amid a score of words, the manager’s choice spoke volumes.
One word to describe Bruno Fernandes
Changes at Manchester United haven’t just been limited to the executive structure or the Man United coaching staff. Fans have also noticed a new look to the media team and the content they’ve been putting out.
This idea of asking people at the club one word to describe Bruno Fernandes and the way it was filmed was also different from the times it’s been done before.
In the video, Erik ten Hag asked first, and he struggled, saying that it was extremely hard to sum up Bruno in just one word.
Then three players- Rasmus Hojlund, Amad, and Alejandro Garnacho borrowed straight from the chant about him by calling him “Magnifico” or “magic”.
Darren Fletcher used “enthusiasm”, while there were dropping of words like “authentic” and “inspiration” from others. Mason Mount summed him up by calling him a “leader”.
The edit then went back to Ten Hag, who, instead of saying just one word, launched into a statement waxing lyrical about his captain.
He said: “I can’t pick one word to describe Bruno. If I think about Bruno, it’s about brains, passion, family.” The full video can be seen below:
Natural next step
It won’t be exaggerating to say that this contract extension wouldn’t have happened had Ineos not come in and shown an immediate desire to bring United back to the top.
Fernandes confirmed in the announcement that he had concrete offers to leave but the ambition and the new direction the club is taking under Ineos played a big part in convincing him that this is the right club for him to win trophies.
For all his efforts, Fernandes has just a single Carabao Cup and FA Cup to show, both coming under Ten Hag in the previous two campaigns.
No ambitious player would be happy with that return, especially one as talented as Fernandes who has often looked like he carries the squad on his shoulders.
The natural next step is to work towards that plan to surround him with quality players and a coherent squad vision that can get United back to challenging for major honours.
It would be many United fans’ dream to see their “Magnifico” lift the Premier League title at Old Trafford one day. The contract extension has made that scenario slightly more realistic.
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