Bruno Fernandez: I was sure I would join Tottenham

Bruno Fernandez and his Manchester United eventually lost 0-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final. In addition to the shame of losing the last fig leaf, he also deeply understood the meaning of the word "lucky is messing with people".

In January 2020, the Portuguese midfielder transferred from Portuguese Sports to Old Trafford for £47 million, and six months ago, he was ready to join Pochettino's Tottenham.

The deal was almost finished after Tottenham's team five meetings with Fernandez, and the North London club impressed Fernandez and his team.

A source involved in the negotiation said: "In terms of details, Tottenham's level is absolutely high enough."

"The details of Tottenham are even made in the lounge on the training ground, and each room is decorated like the bedrooms of the players' homes - the kind of bedrooms they share with their partners."

"The bed is exactly the same as the home, and even the flowers in the garden emit a refreshing fragrance - it's incredible."

"The transfer window is over two weeks, and Portugal Sports is ready to reach the deal."

However, the club's board suddenly changed its mind and insisted on a offer that doubled the original price, which eventually screwed up the business.

Until this time, Fernandez, who was in the dark, was so convinced that he would go to North London that when Portugal sports president Frederico Valandas publicly announced that the negotiations with Tottenham had failed, he deliberately let him avoid them.

For some time after that, Fernandez was in a bad state of mind.

Six months later, Portugal Sports reached an agreement with Manchester United.

The young genius from a humble background, Fernandez trained with the team only once and was directly included in the starting lineup by Manchester United. In February 2020, he played a 0-0 draw with Wolves for Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Fernandez recognized several familiar faces from the Portuguese League that day - but something was not right.

"These guys used to play football with me in Portugal. It is hard to imagine that they are now running faster than me." He said to himself in the first game.

He tried hard to adapt to the intense game, and he breathed a sigh of relief when the fourth official raised the substitution card with No. 8 written in the 88th minute of the game.

As he dragged his cramped legs to the sideline, he suddenly realized that he was no longer wearing the jersey number he used to be in Portugal Sports - now he was wearing the number left by Juan Mata.

This is probably the only game in his career at Manchester United that really longs to be substituted.

Since then, this man has changed a lot, and now his words are: "Life is alive, never die."

Fernandez is now wearing the armband of Manchester United captain, which is generally considered to be the club's most successful signing in the post-Ferguson era. The reason he chose the No. 8 jersey was to pay tribute to his father Jose Fernandez, who wore No. 8 when he was a player.

This season, Fernandez, who is over 30, has contributed 38 goals (19 goals and 19 assists) in 54 games. Before the Europa League final, he hopes to win his first major international trophy with the team to help the team save this frustrating season.

He has become the heart and lungs of Ruben Amorin's team.

For a man who had to run buses in the Porto area since childhood, this was not a problem. Neither his parents have a driver's license.

"He is a small genius from a humble background," said Abilio Novais, his coach when Boavesta began his professional training.

"You can see how much he wants to win. He hates losing - really hates it, he will be depressed for a long time after losing. But that enthusiasm, that sharpness... is obvious. Sooner or later, he will become a footballer."

Fernandez did do it-the desire to win that made him unique on the court, he never lost.

He has always been willing to speak his thoughts

As we all know, Fernandez is willing to speak his thoughts on the court, which is not a habit that has formed as he grows up, he is born like this.

His parents discovered this when discussing the family's move to Switzerland.

At the beginning of this century, Portugal was facing its worst economic recession in generations. Like many, Fernandez's father was unemployed and had no choice but to immigrate.

The old Fernandez's initial idea was not to go alone, but to go with his wife and three children.

At that time, Bruno Fernandez was outstanding in the Boavesta youth training echelon, so he refused to leave. He threatened that if his parents insisted on taking him away, he would run away and run away from home.

"In Switzerland, they don't know how to play," he defended, "I'm at a critical stage in the club." In the end, he got what he wanted - but that meant he would be separated from his father for five years.

Fernandez described it as the worst time he was when he was young, and his father used to support him in the stands, but suddenly he disappeared. He is so influential in the Manchester United locker room, in large part because this experience in life has honed his character.

"I say that to everyone. When I walk in my hometown, I notice this - others don't actually do it. But my dad would say hello to everyone," he explained in an interview with former teammate Alfonso Figueredo on the podcast "Entrelinhas." "He greeted everyone, saying 'Good morning'. Many times, my mom and I would ask him, 'Do you know that person?' He would say, 'Don't know. ’So we asked: ‘Then why did you say good morning? ’He would say, ‘Well, that guy came over and looked at me, so I said good morning. ’”

” It was my father’s instinct to be enthusiastic about getting along with everyone from the beginning, and to try to make any space he is in a good place to feel comfortable. I think, to some extent, this is the root of my current personality. ”

Destined to go to the Premier League

Fernandez met many noble people in his early football path, such as Novais, his coach at Boavesta, who played for Porto as a player and was also a hero admired by the Portuguese.

Fernandez also had intersections with former Portugal and Barcelona midfielder Deco, who was still in the early stages of his career and played for Portugal's Sal Gellos. Deco was very clear from the beginning that Fernandez could also take a football path similar to him and reach his peak.

This is not because he has extraordinary talents - which was impossible to judge at the time - but because he was determined to work harder than anyone else.

"He already has something," Novais said, "it can be seen that he is very eager to get it. ”

" He really wanted to be a professional player when he was a child. Every Wednesday at around 4:30 pm, he still has to attend classes when we go to Boavesta to train. So, around 2:30 pm, he would come to us and train alone with our goalkeeper coach Petronilio. Petronilo would give him an hour of class before he would go to school. ”

"I asked Petronilo: 'How is he acting? ’He would say, ‘Sir, he runs, trains, and does everything. This kid just wants to train. ’He is passionate about the game. ”

Fernandez's efforts attracted people's attention. He played all positions on the court except goalkeeper and began to attract the interest of foreign clubs.

His older brother Ricardo immigrated to the UK as an assistant physician. In 2012, Fernandez could have gone the same way.

He was 17 years old at the time and received two invitations: one from Middlesbrough and the other from Novara in Italy.

" Both teams had the possibility of a journey, but I finally chose Novara. This is the most suitable choice and the conditions are the best. They have a youth training academy where I can sleep and eat, and my mother is more at ease to let me go there. "Fernandez revealed.

" It turned out that this was the right choice. ”

From winning the nickname "Novala Maradona", to transfer to Udinese, and then to Sampdoria, Fernandez established himself and realized his dream of bringing his father back from Switzerland.

Fernandez was already the captain of the Portuguese U21 national team, but he was not very eye-catching among his compatriots.

It was not until the summer of 2017 that he really did It's getting famous.

Suddenly, everyone around started talking about the star player, who scored 33 goals and 18 assists in the 2018-19 season, surpassing Lampard's record with Chelsea and becoming the most goal-scoring midfielder in Europe.

That's when Tottenham Hotspurs sent him an invitation hoping he wouldn't regret the transfer he missed in 2019.