SAN FRANCISCO, October 19, (THEWILL) –Â Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, coach of English Premier League side Manchester United, had a surprise for their Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes at a joint media conference. He announced that Fernandes would captain Man U in their Tuesday UEFA Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain after hailing the Portuguese’s recent impact.
The midfielder has been a revelation since his arrival from Sporting Clube de Portugal in the last January transfer window. He scored 12 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions during the second half of the previous season alone.
Fernandes finished that season as the club’s joint-highest assist merchant in the Premier League, alongside English forward Marcus Rashford with seven assists.
The 26-year-old has picked up where he left off in this 2020/2021 season. His sublime goal in United’s 4-1 Premier League win over Newcastle United on Saturday takes his growing tally to three goals in five appearances. Harry Maguire’s absence for United’s first Champions League group clash in Paris, meant the side were without a player to wear the captain’s armband.
Solskjaer had no hesitation in giving it to Fernandes pointing to the midfielder’s quite impressive start to life as a United player.
“Bruno has come in and had a great impact with all the stats showing that,” the coach said ahead of the clash in Paris.
“His performances have been receiving real great praise as well. He has not changed the team, but he has sparked the team.”
The visibly astonished Fernandes admitted he had no prior knowledge of Solskjaer’s decision and described it is a major milestone in his career.
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“I was not expecting this, I have found out the same time as you. For me it’s an honour. I will be captain for my team-mates and to be captain of Manchester United is an important achievement for me.
“But I think everyone is the captain. Everyone needs to help and be a leader in their own way; leadership is different in every player. Tomorrow will not be about me but the team.
“Leading is every day in the training ground, every game and everyone is doing their job to lead the team in the way they think is best.”
United’s last game against PSG was a stunning last-16 win over the French giants in March 2019. It was a Marcus Rashford’s stoppage-time penalty that helped the Red Devils to a 3-1 win in Paris after losing 2-0 at Old Trafford in the first leg.
Solskjaer was quick to insist that that result will have no bearing on how the match pans out against Thomas Tuchel’s men this time around.
“Of course, that’s history for us,” the Norwegian coach said. “It’s in the past. Great history, great game, but it has no impact whatsoever on this game.
“We’re a different team, they’re a different team. It’s a different stage of the competition.
“Of course, also without fans it’s going to be a different game. Because in the last game, when we got the first goal early on that impacted the ground, it’s a completely new situation.”
