Bruno Fernandes’ arrival at Manchester United has whipped up a storm of excitement at Old Trafford. The Portugal international has injected a level of star quality into the team that is synonymous with the United who reigned supreme in English football for more than a decade prior to Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, winning 13 Premier League titles between 1993 and 2013.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have won three of the four games Fernandes has started in since his move from Sporting Lisbon, with the tantalising playmaker scoring and assisting two a piece in that time. There is plenty of substance to merit the style and the extent of his impact is already tangible with three wins and a draw to show from his four games in the famous red kit, including a 2-0 victory away at top-four rivals Chelsea.
Amid the hype surrounding United’s messiah it is important to remember that he is not the only individual on which the club’s future could rest. After all, he is a supplier as well as a goal scorer and his ability to provide the Red Devils’ plethora of richly gifted attacking forwards will shape their short and long term future.
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The stats so far suggest that when Fernandes provides a goal contribution United win the game. A similar claim can be made in regard to Anthony Martial, who has been absolutely fundamental to the club’s progress this season.
Ten Premier League goals and three assists attest to his importance, but it’s the implications of a Martial goal that really underline the correlation between the Frenchman’s form and United’s results.
Martial has scored in nine different league matches this season and only once has his ability to find the back of the net failed to produce three points. On the flip side, Solskjaer has led United to victory in just one of the 12 games in which the former AS Monaco attacker has failed to find the back of the net. Pertinently, in that one game – a 3-1 win over Brighton back in November 2019 – Martial provided two assists for Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford to notch.
The reliance on Martial is tangible and, to a degree, a legitimate cause for concern.
What is equally as striking is United’s tendency to leak goals in the games in which Martial, who is valued at £54m by Transfermarkt, doesn’t find the net, with the defence breached 21 times in those games compared to just four times when he has been on target.
The United squad is no longer stacked with a pool of match-winning individuals. A potential price-tag that could rise to £58m and five years of mercurial form have prompted feelings of under-appreciation for what Martial offers. His importance this season, however, could well shift the narrative.
Do United need Martial or does Martial need United? Both elements are likely at play but, regardless of any potential dependence from either side, it’s clear that the club’s results, to a large extent, depend on a 24-year-old who has now scored 63 goals in 205 appearances for the club.
Fernandes’ fresh injection of dynamism, youthful optimism and decisive end product, however, is likely to reduce the dependence on Martial.
And how the Champions League chasing side needed that.