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Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has claimed that Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes is not captain material.
Fernandes has donned the armband for the Red Devils for the majority of the season with skipper Harry Maguire regularly finding himself on the bench. However, Souness has claimed that manager Erik ten Hag will regret keeping Fernandes as the Manchester United vice-captain.
The Scotsman ripped into Fernandes for his antics during the Red Devils' 7-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in March. He insisted that Fernandes is not fit enough as a leader.
Souness told William Hill's Up Front With Simon Jordan, as quoted by The Mirror:
"Bruno Fernandes is obviously not a leader, it's as plain as the nose on the end of your face. His attitude when they went 3-0 down at Liverpool was appalling. You certainly would not want to be in the trenches with him."
He added:
"When you become a captain of a football team it's about setting an example on the pitch and off it. In the case of Bruno, you'll see him be a star when you're on top of the opposition and on the front foot, and he can be a real talent, but he showed a side to him that day at Anfield which was very unattractive."
Souness also claimed that Manchester United boss Ten Hag will eventually regret keeping Fernandes as his captain. The Scotsman said:
"Erik ten Hag has then chosen to overlook it because he knows going forward that Bruno will win him games and score goals. But he'll think, the next time he comes up against a really difficult situation, is he going to go missing? I think he already knows the answer to that."
He added:
"I think the fact that Erik ten Hag backed Bruno up is another example of modern management - the tail wags the dog in football these days. There's only one club in the country where that doesn't happen and that's Manchester City, where the manager (Pep Guardiola) is all-powerful, and the players respect him."
Bruno Fernandes has arguably been Manchester United's best signing since the Sir Alex Ferguson era having lived up to his £67.6 million price tag. He joined the club from Sporting CP in January 2020. He has since scored a total of 61 goals and provided 53 assists in 178 games for the Red Devils.
Manchester United interested in signing Barcelona star
Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen, who was formerly in the ranks of Chelsea.
As reported by Fichajes.net, the Red Devils are keen on signing Christensen and are preparing a €70 million offer for the Denmark international. The defender only made his move to Camp Nou from Chelsea last summer on a free transfer and has done extremely well in his debut season.
However, Barcelona are in need of complying with Financial Fair Play and need to shed €200 million off their wage bill. The Catalan giants are also looking to bring Lionel Messi back from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and could sacrifice Christensen to balance their books.
The former Chelsea defender has helped Barca keep 14 clean sheets in 27 games across competitions. The 25-year-old also has two goal contributions to his name and has forged a formidable partnership with Ronald Araujo.
