On Friday night, the Red Devils get their campaign back up and running against Tottenham, and Bruno Fernandes joined talkSPORT for an EXCLUSIVE interview before their trip to north London.
The Portugal midfielder says he’s excited about finally partnering with Paul Pogba in the heart of the midfield of Manchester United when the Premier League season starts back.
Thanks to a recurrent ankle injury, the World Cup winner made just eight appearances this season, playing his most recent game on Boxing Day, but the coronavirus hiatus allowed him time to recover entirely.
After five months on the sidelines, Pogba was at the centre of much of the talk ahead of the showdown and whether or not fans will be able to see the midfielder back in action.
Now too, early team reports indicated Pogba could be benched against Spurs. It has been claimed that after his return from injury, Pogba must ‘earn his way’ back into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first team.
On the other hand, Fernandes has been a revelation in the absence of Pogba at Old Trafford. Once the season was stopped, he recorded three goals and four assists, following his £47million arrival from Sporting Lisbon in January.
However, the humble midfielder insists he is only one of many leaders in Solskjaer’s squad.
“I think everyone has to be a leader in their own way,” he said. “Everyone here is a leader, in everything you have different leaderships and I think I’m just another one. I try to help everyone and they try to help me. I do always want the ball, that is true, and I will always be like that.”
Fernandes has insisted on talkSPORT that Frenchman Pogba remains one of the best players in the club and has revealed his enthusiasm for first linking up with him.
“We are so excited to restart the season and play again,” the Old Trafford star told talkSPORT presenter Jim White. “I think everyone is excited to see Paul Pogba play again after his long injury.
“For me, playing alongside him will be amazing, obviously everyone wants to play with the best players and Paul is one of them.
“But we have a lot of good players and the most important thing is the results for Manchester United.”
United are undefeated since his arrival from Portugal in the nine games, and his instant impact on the giants of the Premier League was compared to when Eric Cantona signed for the club back in 1992.
A host of fans and pundits have credited Fernandes to single-handedly lift the mood at Old Trafford.
Fernandes also thanks Red Devils fans for their support since coming to Manchester, saying he feels like he’s never left his Lisbon home.
“They support me a lot and for me, that’s really important,” added the Portugal international.
“I’m very thankful for the support the fans gave me from the beginning, it has been perfect for me.
“From the beginning, I feel I’ve been at home like I never left Sporting. It was really important for me to start well with some good performances and we’ve had some amazing results.”
