The Manchester United captain led by example against Liverpool on Sunday as the Red Devils beat the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield
Bruno Fernandes fist bumps
Bruno Fernandes arrived at training all smiles, as he fist bumped United staff
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes appears to exhibit several of the traits that legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson possessed when the Scot was in charge of the club. A day after United's 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield, United's stars reported back to training.
As spotted in the video, 'Inside Arrivals', which was released by the Red Devils, Fernandes was displaying all the attributes that demonstrate why he's been club captain since the summer of 2023.
Arriving for training, Fernandes made sure to greet everyone on the way in, asked how they were and even offered friendly fist bumps as he made his way into United's Carrington complex. His open demeanour and magnetic swagger echoes that of Sir Alex and shows the warmer side to his character.
Ferguson was known to even have breakfast with the laundry staff at United, making sure he knew everyone by name. Archie Knox, a close friend who worked as his assistant manager at Aberdeen and United, believes that type of mentality, which is seemingly shared by Ferguson and Fernandes is key to long-term success.
Via The Scottish Sun, Knox said: “One of the first things Alex told me when I came to Aberdeen was everybody is part of the club. He knew the ground staff, he knew the ladies in the kitchen, he made sure he knew them all. It was the same when we went to Manchester United.
“The first thing we did in the morning, maybe before 8am, was to go into the laundry room at the training ground and have tea and toast with the women in there."
While Fernandes is enjoying an upturn in form with United, his future could have lay elsewhere this summer. The Portuguese star looked certain to move to Saudi Arabia after reports Al-Hilal were ready to pay a £300million package to secure his signature.
Sir Alex Ferguson with the Premier League trophy
Sir Alex Ferguson was known to show warmth and humility with all of United's staff
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United would have collected a £100m transfer fee, with Fernandes being handed an eye-watering contract worth around £200m. He also could have linked up with two of his international team-mates in Saudi Arabia.
“It would have been an easy move," he said. "I had Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo there, two people I have a great friendship with. But I want to stay at the highest level, play in big competitions, because I still feel capable."
Speaking in October, on the failed move he said: "I didn't close the door on moving to Saudi Arabia because of the World Cup. That was never in my mind. I wanted to stay at Manchester United, and the club wanted me to stay. That's all there is to it."
However, any departure from the club seems to be in the dust for now and the captain has gone on to lead his side in exemplary fashion.
Speaking with his leadership cap firmly on in the aftermath of the win over Liverpool, Fernandes warned his team-mates that they will have to maintain their performance levels.
Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United celebrate
Bruno Fernandes showed his leadership qualities against Liverpool(Image: Poppy Townson - MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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"Today is for celebrating and enjoying the moment," the Red Devils captain told DAZN Portugal as quoted by O Jogo. "I'll start thinking about it [the next game] tomorrow, because the focus has to quickly shift from today and move on to next week.
"Winning today is very nice, but if we don't win next week, it will be a dark cloud again. It's difficult to maintain a beautiful sky in Manchester."
He added: "It was a very important game. We obviously needed this win to get closer to the top spots. It was very important to win against a team that needed to win, and we also used that impatience to make them make some mistakes."
Next up for Fernandes and United is a clash with Brighton on Saturday at Old Trafford as United bid to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce.
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