Bruno Fernandes is talking hundreds and millions. When he leads Manchester United out against Brighton on Saturday, the captain will become the 63rd player to make 300 appearances for the club. He has brought up the landmark in under six years, garnished that triple century with exactly 100 goals, but the man who ranks as both United’s best signing and best player since Sir Alex Ferguson retired is a personal success story amid a wider malaise.
“I want to be recognised by the many good things I did for the club, that I've brought something back to the club, not just my individual numbers,” said Fernandes. At times, his have felt like doomed heroics, a man single-handedly trying to avert decline at Old Trafford. But when United endured their worst season in half a century, Fernandes was offered the most lucrative of escape routes. He could have had a remarkably lucrative reunion with his Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo and his former Sporting CP manager Jorge Jesus at Al-Hilal. And he chose to stay at a club who finished 15th last year.
