Man Utd 3-1 Aston Villa (Casemiro 53′, Cunha 71′, Sesko 81′ | Barkley 64′)
OLD TRAFFORD — If Manchester United are going to rekindle former glories, Bruno Fernandes has to be persuaded that his Premier League dreams can still come true if he stays put a few more years yet.
Years of broken promises have turned his head. The shoulders are weary after carrying this sleeping giant since he arrived on our shores, ready to conquer all. Saudi Arabia advances offered a lucrative way out, with other top European clubs still interested, despite his advancing years.
There are genuine fears among senior United figures that, after showdown talks scheduled for before Portugal head to the United States for the World Cup, Fernandes, at 31, will say enough is enough.
No matter how many hundreds of millions United intend to spend on a midfield overhaul this summer, the likes we have never seen at Old Trafford, such an eventuality cannot be allowed to happen.
Bruno Fernandes cuts through the Aston Villa defence and Matheus Cunha restores the Red Devils' lead!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 15, 2026pic.twitter.com/R23cYXSH7I
Fernandes is everything as a player United want to be as a club: possession of unrelenting intensity, ability to rile the opposition up like no other, all while remaining world class in all that he does.
His two assists in a vital 3-1 win over top-four rivals Aston Villa on Sunday ensures that only two players in Premier League history – Robin van Persie in 2012-13 and Eric Cantona in 1992-93 – have earned United more points with their goals and assists in a single season than the captain this season. And there are still eight games to go.
It is the timing of many of his sublime assists – he now has 16 this season, a United Premier League record – that separates Fernandes from his peers and makes him wholly irreplaceable.
Some sloppy defending allowed Ross Barkley the freedom of Stretford to level against a labouring United. Another missed opportunity beckoned.
With one defence-splitting pass into Matheus Cunha, a superhuman pickout no rearguard would ever be able to cut out, Fernandes turned one point into three. The slide-rule pass should be heralded as the assist of the season, but such instances are all in a day’s work for the Portuguese magnifico.
That is what is scary about Fernandes – despite his unfathomable numbers, his two assists taking him to 100 for United – he remains criminally underrated.
Roy Keane cannot see it. There is much to be annoyed about how Fernandes goes about his business, especially to perfectionists like Keane. But that is part of it – Fernandes is a maverick. He does things his way, to devastating effect.
With Casemiro seeking pastures new in the summer, losing Fernandes too could set Ineos’ restoration project back to square one.
There is an argument that if Elliot Anderson and one other come in, a young, vibrant midfield, equipped with born-again Kobbie Mainoo, shouldn’t be as reliant on Fernandes as the current incumbent is. If the club can bring in £50m or more for a 31-year-old, those more business-savvy have credence to claim it is also time to cash in.
Only a handful of players in history, however, can produce passes like Sunday’s sensational assist. Even fewer at the most crucial moments.
A return to the Champions League will help, but the charm offensive must begin in earnest. Fernandes cannot be allowed to leave, no matter the cost.
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