Hit hard by the financial crisis of the past decade, Portugal witnessed a strong wave of migration to earn a living. Evidence is that there are more than 2 million citizens of this Iberian peninsula country living overseas, accounting for about 1/5 of the population.

For about 5 years, Mr. Jose Fernandes was one of those migrants who made a living. Unemployed and unable to earn enough money to support his family, he decided to go to Switzerland to find a job to improve his life. His original plan was to take his wife and three children with him, but problems quickly arose: Bruno, the middle son, refused to go. Not only that, Bruno also threatened to run away if he tried to force him to go to Switzerland.

Disobeying father and ending

Finally, his wish came true. If heaven does not accept earth, earth must bear heaven. While Mr. Jose packed his luggage to go to the promised land, his mother, Virginia Borges, returned to Gueifaes, a suburban district of Maia, 15 minutes by car from Porto – to help his son pursue his dream of playing football.

The very tough choice made by the family paid off far sooner than she had anticipated.Bruno caught the eye of an Italian scout from Novara during an U19 team game, and in the middle of 2012, he received an alluring offer to move away from his family. Quite different from the offer to go abroad from father, this time Bruno immediately nodded. And so, at the age of 17, after Novara and Boavista reached a transfer agreement for a fee of 40,000 euros, it was his turn to leave.

.

When Bruno arrived at Porto airport in August 2012, there was no camera man waiting for him. No fans, no screams, just him and his family members. Completely different from the way he left Portugal 8 years later, in January 2020, to join MU, one of the greatest teams in the world. You are Bruno Fernandes.

The most successful signing of the post-Fergie era

Bruno Fernandes is not a prodigy, but he is currently one of the most mentioned players in Europe. After many years of wandering, the Portuguese midfielder finally found his promised land at Sporting Lisbon. At this former team of Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno achieved incredible performance in 2.5 seasons: 63 goals, 48 ​​assists after 135 matches.

Bruno was such a dominant player that one of his teammates, the Macedonian player Stefan Ristovski, once told him seriously: “Stay with us next season – otherwise we will just Still a bunch of dead people.”

In Lisbon, Fernandes combined particularly effectively with Dutch striker Bas Dost, the striker who later moved to Eintracht Frankfurt. “He has perfect technique,” ​​Dost shared on FourFourTwo. “Bruno handled the first step brilliantly and the shots were unbelievable.”

In fact, Sporting Lisbon fans have not seen such an influential midfielder since Bulgarian legend Krasimir Balakov, who captivated Lison’s blue half in the early 1990s. Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo also do not have such a solemn place in the team’s history.

Therefore, it is not surprising that after a transfer lasting several months, Fernandes’s arrival at Tires airport to take a private plane to Manchester was shown live on Portuguese television.

“I have been active in this field for a long time and I can guarantee: Bruno Fernandes is the best player we have had in Portugal in the last few years,” explained Sousa Cintra, former president of Sporting Lisbon.

“And it’s important to emphasize: he’s even better as a person. He is the type of player who elevates the team. He is polite and steadfast. He brings new motivation to our dressing room, leading his teammates and pushing them to fight until the last drop of sweat. He went to Sporting Lisbon like Ronaldo went to Real Madrid: a perfect deal.”

It didn’t take long for MU fans to realize Fernandes’ valuable qualities. The Portuguese midfielder became the Red Devils’ savior when he supplemented the things this team lacked the most: Creativity and extraordinary temperament.

Almost immediately, Fernandes played a pivotal role in turning around the Red Devils’ seemingly lost season. In addition to goals and assists, the act of putting a hand to the mouth to mean “Shut up” towards Pep Guardiola, the Man City coach, awakens the dormant pride deep in the heart of the Red Devils.

Coach Solskjaer alone can see Bruno Fernandes as the savior of his position at Old Trafford. The Norwegian strategist described the Portuguese midfielder as “a mix between Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron”, and affirmed that “his brain has a faster processing speed than others” and praising his “mysterious qualities.”