Manchester United have been urged to consider the shock sale of talisman Bruno Fernandes by a former striker, though a second observer has explained why it would be ‘brainless'.
Fernandes won the FWA men's Footballer of the Year award in May and has also been nominated for the PFA Player of the Year award, with the event to take place on August 25.
The attacking midfielder was in outstanding form last season, registering nine goals and 21 assists in 35 Premier League games to break the top-flight assists record for a single campaign, which had been jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
Despite that incredible achievement, Fernandes has faced criticism from some pundits, largely down to the fact that he had less games after Man Utd failed to qualify for Europe and were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions early on.
And during an appearance on talkSPORT, Dean Saunders ‘floated around the idea of offloading United's talismanic captain this summer.'
Journalist Alex Crook responded: “If you're going to say Bruno Fernandes, the answer is no chance.
“21 assists last season. Wears the captain's armband, been the best player by a country mile since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
“Absolutely brainless to even contemplate that.â€
However, Saunders went on to criticise the furore around Fernandes' assists record.
“This assist business, I don't get it,†he said.
“I asked Jamie O'Hara the other night, how many assists did you get in your career? He went: ‘I don't know'. I said: ‘Yeah, because no one ever told you and we never counted them'.
“The assists depend on who you're playing with.
“So, for example, if Harry Maguire robs the ball off the centre forward and pokes it to Fernandes and he first times it round the corner for me to go clean through and score, who gets the assist? Harry Maguire or Fernandes? Or both?
“If you're playing with Robbie Fowler and you're a left winger, John Barnes, say, and he's whipping crosses in the face of the goal, Robbie Fowler's finishing every cross that comes across – 10 goals, 10 crosses.
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Bruno Fernandes assists questioned
“Then he plays with Darwin Nunez, who manages to miss from everywhere. So John Barnes' stats are down because they're not getting finished.
“Tugay [Kerimoglu] played for Blackburn. He hit Damien Duff's chest on the left wing every five minutes [to then cross] – Damien Duff's [assist] stats were up, and then we signed Andy Cole and his stats went up again because he was finishing them. It's a team game.â€
Crook responded: “It's made a difference that Fernandes was hitting Cunha and Mbeumo and Sesko last season, and not Rasmus Hojlund.â€
Crook added: “To set up 21 goals over the course of a Premier League season is not to be shied away from.â€
We confirmed on Friday that United have taken the strongest possible stance over Fernandes' future, insisting the Portuguese is not for sale at any price.
Galatasaray are keen on signing Fernandes, as are clubs in Saudi Arabia. But we understand he is open to extending his contract with United, which would effectively end the transfer talk.
Meanwhile, Aurelien Tchouameni is ready to say yes to joining United if INEOS can overcome two issues.
