After Manchester United finally managed to acquire Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon, journalist Andy Mitten shared his insight into the Portuguese's playing style and what he might bring to United's midfield on Thursday's OTB AM.
The area of the pitch where Manchester United have struggled most, midfielder Bruno Fernandes, expected to arrive at the Premier League club on Thursday, will feel the burden of a great expectation.
As Manchester United attempt to negotiate their way into the Champions League places, Andy Mitten, editor of the club fanzine United We Stand, offered his personal experience of Fernandes and what he might bring to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
"I'm not an expert on him," he clarified on Thursday's OTB AM, " but what I do do is go to Lisbon once a year.
"I interview the Presidents and coaches at Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, and I spoke to a very senior coach at Benfica off the record last week.
"I mentioned that I'm from Manchester and asked what is Bruno Fernandes like. He said that he's very, very good, a box-to-box midfielder who happily shoots and assists.
"In his opinion, he'd be good in the Premier League because he can run and cover a lot of ground."
A long-running target of Manchester United's, while Mitten is not yet certain that Bruno Fernandes can make an immediate contribution, he is confident that those who know the Portuguese midfielder best believe he can be a success at Manchester United.
"[The Benfica coach] could have easily said to me, 'Andy, don't waste your money," but he didn't," remarked Mitten.
"I spoke last night to Diego Dalot and when I mentioned Fernandes he just went: "Top, top." Now, he's going to say that.
"I'd love it to work out for the lad and to be fair to Manchester United, they've held out on the price and they knew that Sporting needed the money and they've got their man."
Asked Diogo Dalot what Bruno Fernandes is like. “Top. Top,” he replied.
— Andy Mitten (@AndyMitten) January 29, 2020
You can watch back Andy Mitten's assessment of last night's match between United and Manchester City here.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
