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4th August 2025
02:31pm BST
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been accused of "holding back" the team by United fans, after the midfielder made a series of errors during a friendly game last night.
The sometimes brilliant but often undisciplined midfielder was one of the few bright sparks for the Red Devils last season, registering 19 goal contributions despite the club finishing 15th in the league.
The 30-year-old also received two red cards over the course of the season.
That poor discipline has led to a growing sense amongst the club's fanbase that Fernandes' good goalscoring record isn't enough for him to become a key figure in Ruben Amorim's project.
The feeling was summed up by Red Devils legend Roy Keane earlier this year. He said: "Talent is not enough. Bruno's a talented player, but talent's not enough" when the player was made United captain in May.
It was very much the same story for Fernandes last night as United drew 2-2 with Everton in the final game of Premier League Summer Series in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 90-minute pre-season tie perfectly summed up Bruno Fernandes as a footballer.
The Portuguese international had a dream start to the game, scoring the opener with a cooly taken penalty in the 19th minute.
From that point on, United fans soon began to lose patience with their captain.
In the 74th minute — with the Red Devils 2-1 up — Fernandes was at fault for a scrappy Everton equaliser.
Bruno gave the ball away cheaply, before then attempting a slide tackle from behind on Toffees' star Ilman Ndiaye.
One took to Twitter/X to say: "I'll say for the last time and then I'll never speak about him again, Bruno Fernandes is holding us back.."
Some have even suggested that the best thing Bruno can now do to help carry United forward, is by leaving for a hefty transfer fee that can be reinvested into younger players.
A Saudi Pro League side were said to have made a big offer for Fernandes last month that was rejected by both the club and player.
One fan took to Twitter/X to write: "The decision to keep Bruno Fernandes and reject £100m for the rebuild will get Amorim sacked."
Bruno spoke to reporters at the end of the game, expressing a feeling that the club are not performing as they should be on the pitch.
Fernandes said: “It’s improving. It’s not where we want it to be. I don’t want to have a dig at anyone, but I think the club is doing the best they can in terms of all the financial situations they talk about.
“Our performance wasn’t the best off the ball. We were a little bit lazy and we have to avoid that because the laziness you can pay at any moment.
“I don’t know about it, I’m not involved in that. But obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here.
“We needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more, to have to do more to get into the starting XI.
“I think that’s what the club and the manager are trying to do, and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.
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