Bruno Fernandes’ time at Old Trafford has not been short of controversy among his stunning displays for Manchester United.
Bruno Fernandes moved to Manchester United in 2019, as the Red Devils spent an initial £47million on the Portuguese playmaker from Sporting Lisbon. Since his arrival, he has been a mainstay under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag. The 28-year-old has provided iconic moments through his goals and assists, but the stand-in captain has also been known to lose his temper on occasions. He can often be seen complaining to the referee and his outbursts have even led to Fernandes hitting out at his teammates and opponents. Here, Express Sport looks at the five most explosive times he lost his cool.
Leaked WhatsApps
Fernandes has shown that he has no issue with calling out his team-mates, which he did via a leaked voice note on WhatsApp during his time at Sampdoria. He is clearly a demanding voice in the dressing room, as Portuguese media shared him venting his frustrations.
Fernandes said: “Bro, I don’t say anything! I honestly, if you want me to tell you, I’d rather not comment on anything. I think very badly of some of the attitude of some players. Actually not a certain attitude, it’s an attitude that does not exist.
“There are players who have no attitude here, bro. They don’t want to be here, they don’t want to play. They don’t want to be here then f*** off, let them say they don’t want to play. They spend a year here getting money, and then they f*** off, bro. S*** attitude bro, for f**** sake.”
Guardiola spat
The Manchester derby is no stranger to controversial moments, as Fernandes became the latest in 2020 when he engaged in a verbal back and forth with Pep Guardiola as United were moments away from defeating their local rivals 2-0.
Fernandes ended their spat by putting his finger to his lips as to shush the Manchester City boss, as he endeared himself to the United faithful having only been at the club for a couple of months.
Pushing the referee
The latest incident came during United’s 7-0 defeat to Liverpool at the beginning of the month, as calls came for Fernandes to be handed a lengthy ban and stripped of the captaincy by Ten Hag after nudging the assistant referee in the second half.
Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton felt that Fernandes deserved an 11-game ban, the same as Paolo Di Canio for his infamous push on referee Paul Alcock in 1998, but Fernandes escaped punishment as the incident was not missed by the on-pitch officials and included in their report.
United spent the majority of the summer transfer window attempting to bring Frenkie De Jong to Old Trafford, but Fernandes may have not been impressed with the Dutchman turning down the opportunity to join him in the Premier League.
As the Red Devils faced Barcelona in this year’s Europa League, Fernandes instigated a huge brawl between both sets of players by booting the ball at De Jong. He had been fouled by Aaron Wan-Bissaka and while laying on the floor, was on the receiving end of Fernandes as he was hit by the ball.
Fernandes was shown a yellow card, as was Barcelona’s Franck Kessie as another red card for a scuffle was avoided – after Casemiro was sent off in a similar incident against Southampton in the same month.
X-rated teammate rant
Ferandes’ explosive rant at Sampdoria was not the only team he blasted his own team-mates, having been caught telling both Fred and Alex Telles to “film my d***” as leaked footage emerged during a United pre-season training session.
The Brazilian duo were filming a ‘day in the life’ video at Carrington, United’s training ground complex when they were told to stop filming and focus on football. After telling them in Portuguese to “stop being such ballers” he then continued to berate the pair for not working on their games.
“You are here to play football, not film it,” Fernandes told Fred and Telles, before turning to their camera crew and urging them to: “Film my d**k.”
Source: express.co.uk
