Manchester United defender Alvaro Fernandez made his first Championship start for Preston North End this weekend, featuring in his side's 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield United at Deepdale.
The 19-year-old joined the Red Devils from Real Madrid back in 2020, but has yet to make a competitive appearance for United's first team. After more than 40 appearances in Premier League 2, though, he secured a loan move to Preston this summer with a view to giving him a taste of senior football.
Fernandez featured from the bench in the Lancashire side’s first two Championship games, both of which ended in goalless draws. He was then handed his first start away to Huddersfield in the EFL Cup, and stole the show with a pair of assists in a 4-1 win, this was despite only playing for 45 minutes after being substituted as a precaution after rolling his ankle.
Manager Ryan Lowe was full of praise for Fernandez on the back of that display, “He's an immaculate kid though, isn't he? Everything about him. He's asked questions on a daily basis, is playing a different role to what he is probably used to at Manchester United - as a left wing-back for us, not left-back."
Lowe continued by stating, "He is a fantastic talent - you don't play for Real Madrid and Manchester United if you are not any good. We knew that when we saw him, we knew he'd bring something different to us and he certainly did that tonight."
Unfortunately, that ankle injury proved worse than initially anticipated forcing Fernandez to be sidelined for Preston’s next five matches. He made cameo appearances from the bench in Preston’s last three fixtures before being rewarded with his first league start on Saturday.
Fernandez featured for 69 minutes before his withdrawal and put in another solid display despite his side’s eventual defeat. He proved positive in his all-round play, always looking to play forward passes and drive towards the attacking third with the ball at his feet.
That’s a point captured by the fact the teenager finished the game having made three progressive runs, won 5/9 offensive duels and successfully completed 3/4 attempted dribbles.
An interesting tactical quirk from the game was also his occasional favour to come into central areas when Preston had possession of the ball.
This is likely to have been as a result of instruction from his manager, yet it’s interestingly something we often see at United too with Erik ten Hag instructing both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia to come into more central areas during United’s build-up phase.
This in many ways makes Preston an ideal rearing environment for Fernandez to not only develop, but also to do so in an environment which should aid his potential transition to the United first-team one day in the future.
It’s fair to say that, at this stage, he’s still some way from being ready to forge a place in Ten Hag’s squad. His success rate in defensive duels (45 per cent) and aerial duels (38.5 per cent) this season for example highlights he needs to improve physically without the ball, yet all that is sure to come the more he plays and gains valuable experience at senior level.
