Why Bruno Fernandes is a more important player for United than Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo recently joined his former club, Manchester United from Juventus at a reported fee of £12.86m. The 36 years old Portuguese forward has already won 5 Balon d or and doesn’t seem to stop anytime soon. Ronaldo holds the record for most goals and assists in the UEFA Champions League (134 and 42 respectively), and the record for most goals in the UEFA European Championship (14), its qualification stage (31), and the FIFA Club World Cup (7), as well as most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League season (17), most international goals (111), and most appearances in a European national team (180). He has scored a record 785 senior career goals for club and country

Ronaldo is one of the best players the footballing world has ever witnessed. United was in a dire need of a striker after Anthony Martial’s failure in front of goal last season. He will get goals for the Red Devils but is he the one who can bring United’s glory days back? I am not so sure of that. The former Juventus man is not the same old Ronaldo, who used to do a stepover and run past 3 defenders. Bruno Fernandes on the other hand has been at the heart of United's success.

Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United in Jan 2020 for €80 million from Sporting Club. Right after joining the club, he won Premier League Player Of The Month in Feb followed by the same in June, Nov, and December 2020. He also won the Premier League Goal Of the month in Feb and June. He was the first player to win both awards (Premier League Player Of The Month And Premier League Goal Of The Month) concurrently in Premier League history. He is also the first player to win the Premier League Player Of The Month award four times in a single calendar year.

There have been many world-class signings post-Ferguson’s Era like Zlatan Ibrahimović or Angel Di Maria, though these players were good for the team at that time they were no match for Bruno Fernandes. In the 2019 -2020 Season he played 14 matches, scored 8 times and got 7 assists. In the 2020-2021 season, he got 18 goals and 14 assists in 37 appearances for United. Bruno is the core reason for United’s successful season. Bruno has an insatiable appetite for winning. He has brought that winning attitude to United and has filled the dressing room with it.

His technical abilities as a midfielder are second to none. His passing is immaculate, be it short passing, long passing, through balls, over-the-top balls, or crossing, he has got it all. His outside-the-box shots are brilliant. The power he generates while shooting the ball for a goal or a freekick is immense and is unstoppable for the goalkeepers. If the team is losing, he moves in the lower block of the field and defends for the team. He fights for the badge, gets the ball back, and helps his team in counter-attacking. He is everywhere on the pitch. Bruno is a fighter of a player who gets goals and assists the team when most needed. Can Ronaldo bring the same for The Red Devils and win trophies for the team? Only time will tell.