United midfielder says he had kept a close eye on the club since Cristiano Ronaldo joined in 2003
Thursday 9 April 2020 15:02, UK
Bruno Fernandes says he was convinced to join Manchester United because of the confidence shown in him by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The United boss travelled to Portugal to watch Fernandes in action during the January transfer window, before a £68m deal was agreed for the 25-year-old to join the club from Sporting Lisbon.
It was the Portugal international's "personality and fire" that won Solskjaer over, and the manager's faith in Fernandes has proven to be well-placed with the midfielder impressing since his arrival and contributing three goals and four assists in nine games.
Asked why he decided to join United in a fan Q&A on the club's official website, Fernandes said: "For me, the most important was obviously the confidence of the coach.
"I need to know I am backed from the coach, because sometimes when you change club, not every time the coach wants you.
"Not like I need to come because the coach wants me to play, no, not like this, but I want to feel the confidence from the coach. You come, you are a choice for me and you come. I need you, I want you, it's not like you come and I ask but I will play?
"No, this for me is not the point. For me, the point is the confidence he has in me. If he has confidence in me, then the rest is working.
"I need to work to conquer my place, to play, to keep going with games and games and games."
Fernandes, though, had already been keeping a keen eye on United long before he signed.
"Joining Manchester United was so easy because since I was a kid, it was a dream, so for me, doing this step, a big step to the Premier League to Manchester United was perfect," he added.
"I looked at Manchester with more interest when Cristiano [Ronaldo] was here because it's normal when you have Portuguese players in some teams, you look at them more than other teams.
"But at that moment, I started to look at Manchester in a different way because you see Cristiano but then you see also the team and you have Paul Scholes, you have [Wayne] Rooney, you have [Ryan] Giggs and you have Roy Keane, [Eric] Cantona before.
"You have a lot of players… I don't know… [Ruud] van Nistelrooy… I can stay here for hours saying all the names of players for Manchester United. Also Nani, who's played with me."
