Rio Ferdinand has spoken out in defence of Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes (Image: Getty)
legend has singled out the one player he feels has received unfair criticism this season.
Ferdinand’s former club are in the midst of their worst-ever campaign. Replacing with has not had the desired effect and yet another squad overhaul is expected in the summer, insofar as funds will allow.
United were on course for another disastrous result on Saturday, when they fell two goals behind against in the early kick-off. But and Manuel Ugarte both struck in the final 20 minutes to rescue a point for the Red Devils, who were arguably fortunate not to concede a stoppage-time penalty.
Ferdinand believes that Fernandes, whose clever free-kick brought United back into the game at Goodison Park, is integral to the team’s chances of rediscovering success.
“I think they’re a Championship team when he doesn’t play,” he told . “A division one team sometimes. Bruno is massively disrespected. All this talk about him not being captain material, trying to look for negatives in his game.
“He gets called out for his body language. Yeah, there could be improvements in there, but that is borne out of frustration. If people are doing their jobs, I don’t then need to go there and show them how to do their jobs.
Bruno Fernandes has scored six goals and set up six more in the Premier League this season (Image: Getty)
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“I actually feel sorry for him, in a sense. No Premier League player has created more chances since he signed for – not , nobody.”
Fernandes is now United’s joint-top-scorer and creator in the Premier League this season with 12 goal contributions in 25 games. The captain’s output has been absolutely vital for Amorim who, like Ten Hag, has been unable to get a tune out of strikers and Joshua Zirkzee.
Huge uncertainty surrounds what United’s squad will look like by the start of next season. The club’s PSR position means they will need to sell star players if they want to make significant investments, and a number of fan favourites have been linked with moves elsewhere.
Napoli pushed to sign Alejandro Garnacho in January, while were rumoured to be eyeing up fellow academy product Kobbie Mainoo. It remains to be seen whether Fernandes will be dragged into the fire sale after scoring 89 goals in 271 games across five-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford.