Manchester United have plenty of transfer regrets and one of the latest will be allowing Alvaro Fernandez to leave.
After he struggled to break into the first team at Old Trafford, Manchester United sold Alvaro Fernandez for just £5m to Benfica in 2024.
Just one year later, Fernandez made a £43m move to Real Madrid and now he is quickly becoming a superstar in the Spanish capital.
United profited from Fernandez’s sell-on clause, but there must be frustration at Carrington knowing he could have been sold for a much higher fee – or even better, still be wearing a United shirt.
Alvaro Fernandez dribbles the ball for Real Madrid
Photo By Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images
Alvaro Fernandez stars in Real Madrid victory
Already this season, Spanish media raved about Fernandez’s debut for Madrid, with Xabi Alonso immediately making the 22-year-old a starter for Los Blancos.
Fernandez has played every minute of Madrid’s three La Liga matches so far, and already they sit at the top of the league table.
Their latest win came in a 2-1 win over Mallorca, with two quickfire first-half goals giving Alonso’s side the three points.
Fernandez started the game at left-back in a defence that also included summer signings Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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Alongside several attacking contributions, Fernandez’s best moment of the match came when he made an extraordinary goal-line clearance.
Within the space of a year or two, Fernandez has gone from being considered not good enough at United to being a starter for Real Madrid.
His latest performance was probably his best yet for Madrid, and Spanish media were quick to pile praise on the 22-year-old.
Mundo Deportivo summed up his performance in one word – “Protagonist”. They added: “He was Real Madrid’s best player. Decent in defence and always creating danger in attack.”
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Spanish outlet AS, also wrote: “He’s improving with each match. From his position at left back, his influence is growing, especially offensively rather than defensively.”
In a separate AS piece, Fernandez was described as an “acrobat”, because he “deflected a shot from Samu Costa that was flying supersonic”.