During this period of social distancing, Manchester United has been conducting live interviews with their players. So, this week, the guest was Portuguese midfielder, Bruno Fernandes.

Among other topics, the Portuguese star revealed that he has Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta as his inspiration and his childhood idol, as the man himself said below:

“What I liked most to watch and follow was Iniesta, because he’s a mix between a number eight and ten. He is the player who likes to always have the ball, who likes to take risks and I think he was one of the best in the world. For me, it’s amazing how Iniesta will end his career without a Golden Ball. With all that he won, it is difficult for me to understand.“

Well, I think it’s simple to answer to Bruno’s question. Iniesta played in the wrong era, I think. As did Zlatan Ibrahimovic and many others who played in the Messi-Ronaldo domination era.

In addition to Iniesta, Fernandes also pointed out Brazilian Ronaldinho and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo as other inspirations.

“I have a lot of players that I would like to see and learn from. For example, in my first five years, he was the player that everyone liked and will always like, Ronaldinho. For me, he was a player with a tremendous ability to put you in front of the television for hours on end, that energy and joy were contagious. It is something you enjoy when you see someone like that. Then, Cristiano Ronaldo, as I mentioned several times. As a professional footballer, he is the best example of all.“

We can say Bruno Fernandes has had a great start with Man United. He played only five Premier League games with the Red Devils, but those five ones were enough to make him to into the BBC Sports’ Team of the Season, for example.

The starting XI was basically Liverpool plus some other names. Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Leicester’s Soyuncu, Andrew Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandes, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. Jurgen Klopp was the coach.

Maybe they included Fernandes just to make a lot of fans comment on that, because as good as Fernandes performed, he played only five games. But at the same time, I’m sure he could make it if the season hadn’t stopped.