To put it lightly, this season has not been particularly enjoyable for Manchester United fans so far.
Erik ten Hag led the team to their worst start in Premier League history for the second campaign in a row, and while he wasn’t all that popular by the end, seeing your manager sacked is never an enjoyable experience.
With that said, interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has seemingly stabilised the ship for incoming boss Ruben Amorim, and there are now genuine reasons to be optimistic about the club’s short and long-term future.
Even players who were massively underperforming at the start of the season are starting to look like their old selves, such as Bruno Fernandes, although the ex-Sporting CP boss could opt to replace the Red Devils’ captain before the start of next season to get his reign off to a fresh start.
The Bruno Fernandes question
The first thing to say is that Fernandes is an unbelievably talented footballer and, on his day, is arguably world-class. However, therein lies the problem; as many a United fan will probably attest, it’s rarely been their captain’s day this season.
For example, the Portuguese dynamo managed to rack up a sensational haul of 15 goals and 13 assists in 48 appearances last season, equating to an average of a goal involvement once every 1.71 games, and not a single one of those involvements came in the League Cup.
In contrast, while his overall tally of four goals and seven assists in 17 games this season looks impressive, it is instantly less so when you realise two of his goals and two of his assists came in League Cup matches against Barnsley and Leicester City, while another goal came against PAOK in the Europa League.
Bruno Fernandes in 2024/25 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Competition | PL | UEL | Cup | Community Shield |
Games | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Goals | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Assists | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Goal Involvements * | 0.45 | 0.33 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
Red Cards/Second Yellows | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
All Stats via Transfermarkt (* = per match) | ||||
Moreover, before Van Nistelrooy took charge, it wasn’t unusual to come across United writers who were asking Ten Hag to take him out of the starting lineup, as he was struggling to offer much going forward and inexplicably managed to get himself sent off in back-to-back games.
Lastly, on top of only starting to perform following the sacking of the former manager, the Maia-born international is now on the wrong side of 30, and with Amorim at the helm and Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the boardroom, it feels like a massive rebuilding job is required.
Therefore, it would be wise of United to see what sort of money they can get for Fernandes in 2025 and use that to sign a former target to replace him, a target who looks set for a bright future.
United’s potential Fernandes replacement
So, who’s this talented youngster previously linked to United who could replace Fernandes? Well, it’s Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid and current RB Leipzig loan star Xavi Simons.
He was touted for a potential €100m – £83m – move to Old Trafford, among other Premier League sides, a few months ago and while nothing materialised, Ratcliffe and Co should be back in for the young talent next year.
It’s certainly a lot of money for a 21-year-old, but over the last few years, he has shown the footballing world that he could be one of the sport’s next attacking superstars, and while some might point to his appearances out on the wing as a reason why he couldn’t replace the United captain, fear not.
While it’s true that the “complete” Amsterdam-born star, as dubbed by former teammate Dani Olmo, has made 50 appearances on the left in his career, he has also made 29 in attacking midfield and even 28 off the right.
Therefore, he is more than capable of playing wherever he’s asked, including the former Sporting star’s current position.
Moreover, his sensational record of producing goal involvements suggests he should have no problems impacting games regardless of his starting position.
“Xavi Simons is in the spotlight, he is not a new discovery, but I think that he will continue to grow to a world-class level. I had him at PSV. I say that he is a player for a great team even as a starter.” – Van Nistelrooy on Simons.
For example, in just 48 appearances for PSV Eindhoven in the 22/23 campaign, he scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists.
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The following year, he scored ten goals and provided 15 assists for Leipzig in just 43 appearances, and this season, he’s already racked up three goals and two assists in 11 games, despite suffering from a fairly serious ankle injury.
Simons’ senior career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Club | PSG | PSV | RB Leipzig |
Appearances | 11 | 48 | 54 |
Goals | 0 | 22 | 13 |
Assists | 1 | 12 | 17 |
Goal Involvements per Match | 0.09 | 0.70 | 0.55 |
Ultimately, United fans should expect the club to go through something of a rebuilding phase over the next few years, akin to Arsenal a few seasons ago, and to make sure it’s a rebuild that works, it makes perfect sense to move on the old guard like Fernandes to bring in the next generation of incredible talents, such as Simons.
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