For all the pearl-clutching and outcry that has swirled around Bruno Fernandes over the past week, many seem to have forgotten just how important he is to Manchester United.
Few signings have had the immediate impact, especially mid-season, that Fernandes had when he finally arrived at Old Trafford in January 2020 and though there was a lull last season when every single player struggled to show any semblance of their best form in a dire campaign, he has roared back to his best this year. Erik ten Hag immediately recognised his qualities and made him a fulcrum of the side.
While Marcus Rashford has rightly stolen the headlines with his remarkable success in front of goal and new signings Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen have received a lot of credit for United's transformation, Fernandes has continued to be the driving force. The Portuguese has 20 goal contributions in 41 matches, is the second-highest scorer and is capable of pulling decisive moments out of the hat even when United are below their best.
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When pundits were mourning the lost sanctity of the United captain's armband and calling for Fernandes' head on a spike after the defeat to Liverpool, it was quickly forgotten how selfless he has been in recent weeks. With United short on attacking options due to yet another Anthony Martial injury, Fernandes has often been tasked with playing out wide so Wout Weghorst can operate in an attacking midfield role and Rashford can lead the line.
It has certainly worked on occasion and Weghorst, though seemingly incapable of scoring unless it's a rebound from a few yards out, has done well thanks to his deceptively tight touch and sharp link-up play. Ten Hag has certainly been impressed: "I think he is doing well. If a striker or as a number 10 in the midfield, he is also bringing good performances. I think he has intelligence from positions.
"He is a very good anticipation. I tell him of course to link up there, which he is also doing as a high striker, linking up and getting in front of the goal when crosses are coming in and also the defending part he is very good in it.”
But for all the good work the Dutchman has done, his lack of cutting-edge has started to grate. He lacks the quality and clinical nature that Fernandes possesses. The ability to conjure moments of magic to change a game. But out on the flank, it's been harder for the No.8 to have the same influence on matches.
The difference was stark on Thursday. Fernandes was back in the No.10 role against Real Betis and he clinched the game with a top performance, a perfect response to the vitriol he had been subjected to. United had been pegged back by the spirited Spaniards but Fernandes took the game into his own hands, teeing up Antony for a stunning strike and then putting the game out of sight with a Roy Keane-esque header.
Paul Scholes, a midfielder who knows a thing or two about being shunted out to the wing, made his and probably a whole host of United fans' views clear on the subject after the game. “Some of the players who came in for criticism, Bruno especially," he told BT Sport. "I thought he was brilliant in the centre of the pitch where we know that's his best position. I hope we never see him in a wide area ever again on the football pitch because it's just not his strength, he was so good in the centre of that pitch dictating play."
Weghorst has done an admirable job but he just doesn't have the skills to be as influential in such a key area of the pitch as Fernandes. It's left Ten Hag with a very simple decision to make: Fernandes has to start every game centrally from now on, starting on Sunday.
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