Man United star Bruno Fernandes reveals he has tried out other positions in football before eventually sticking with his favorite no. 10 role.
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has revealed a former coach told him playing at center half rather than in midfield would be best for his development.
The Portuguese has been consistently excellent for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side since signing for the club from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020.
Fernandes has scored 18 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions for United. However, it could all have been different as he reveals he was encouraged to play at the back when he was younger.
Fernandes told the UTD podcast: “I played central defender for the most part, when I started playing football, either central defense or right back. I was really good, I had a coach who said to me, “If you want to be a top player, you will need to play as a central defender. If you want to be a good player, you will be a midfielder.”
“I think he was wrong but, maybe as a central defender, I could be much better, I don’t know! At the time I didn’t like to play there, but everyone was saying I was a good defender, they said I was smart, that I covered the sides.”
Fernandes continued: “The coach looked at the list of players, and because some were on vacation he said, “Oh we have no strikers” and I said “I’m a striker!” He said, “I thought you were a central defender” and I said, “No, I don’t play there any more, I’m a striker!”
“So he gave me one try-out in training, I scored twice and he said “OK, you can play a striker!” He played me as striker in one game, then, in the second game, I was like a fake 9 with two strikers, and after that I moved back to No 10 and No 8.”
Manchester United can be thankful Fernandes decided to switch back to the no. 10 position where he is currently excelling.
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