Bruno Fernandes continues to be a major influence on this United team
Bruno Fernandes continues to be a major influence on this United team
The noises coming out of Manchester United's football leadership this week have been positive about the prospect of investing in the squad in the summer transfer window.
The club already owes £89million in instalments on players this summer, but after 12 months of cost-cutting measures, there is hope that Ruben Amorim will be given money to spend. It might be more toy chest than war chest, but it should allow Amorim to start putting his stamp on this squad.
It will be vital to build on what has been an encouraging few weeks for Amorim. There are signs that his methods and system are beginning to improve as the current crop of players get used to his approach. Thursday night's performance against Real Sociedad was the best yet in terms of attacking intent under the Portuguese head coach.
Again, Bruno Fernandes was the star of the show. His hat-trick took him to 28 goal contributions in 43 appearances this season, a remarkable return in what has been such a disappointing season for the team he leads. Once again, the question is asked of where United would be without Fernandes, and once again, the answer is unthinkable.
But that is a prospect that United came close to finding out. Strip Fernandes from this team and a relegation battle would look like a real possibility, but as he weighed up his future last summer, just a couple of months from entering his 30s, it could have come to pass.
Fernandes has given the best years of his career to the club and has been rewarded with just a League Cup and an FA Cup. He has been United's outstanding player ever since the day he first walked through the door in January 2020, and he looks destined to win the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award for the fourth time since he signed from Sporting.
Had he sought out pastures new last summer, nobody could have begrudged him a change amid a desire to win the trophies his talent clearly deserves. Captaining United during such fallow years isn't easy, as Fernandes was reminded last month when Roy Keane took aim at him.
He also had to take on even more leadership as Ineos started to wield the axe and cut costs. Fernandes wanted a collegial atmosphere across the club, and he was having to fight for that.
So when he had an offer to leave, he sat down with Ineos' football leadership team and asked them about the future. He was also blunt at a time when costs were being slashed, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe was keen to redraw the wage structure. Did they see Fernandes as part of the future or not?
Fernandes was told he would be a big part of the rebuild, and he decided he wanted to stay. He didn't envisage another season of misery following, but as everyone at United has come to expect, he has stepped up when his team needed him most this season.
He could yet lift a third trophy at the club in May. A Europa League quarter-final against Lyon awaits and winning that competition is the route back to the Champions League. That is the competition where Fernandes belongs.
Fail to win the Europa League, and Fernandes will turn 31 in September and will consign himself to a season without any European football. The loss of that prestige and the revenue that comes with it will make Amorim's rebuild just a little harder.
He has gaps to fill in his squad this summer, but what he doesn't have to worry about is a captain or a talisman. Amorim has moved Fernandes deeper since he took over, but it hasn't affected his output or influence.
He heard what he needed to from Ineos last summer, and that is one sales pitch that they just had to get right.