It would warm the hearts of Old Trafford diehards who can now breathe a huge sigh of relief to hear that Bruno Fernandes is relishing the prospect of playing alongside Paul Pogba in Manchester United’s midfield when football returns.
Fernandes has been glowing in his appraisal of Pogba’s individual abilities when answering a question from a fan in the second part of an exclusive Q&A session, which you can be assessed in full from 19:00 BST today.
The Portuguese has also conceded that despite the 2019/20 campaign having been admittedly tough for Pogba, the France World Cup winner will doubtless bounce back once it is safe for the sport to resume.
When asked how excited he is to play with Paul, Bruno replies: “A lot. A lot. I think we have a lot of good players in the midfield.
“Obviously Paul is injured from a long time [ago], and all we know is he has a lot of qualities.
“We can say in football that people normally forget what you do good when you have a mistake. You can do good for 34 games, and one game you do bad and everyone will remember that.
“Paul is coming from a bad moment, because of the situation. When he played also, the club and the team was not good, because the expectations are high for Paul, because Paul is a top player and Manchester United pay a lot for him, and expectations are a lot for him.
“It’s normal when you are in that situation you don’t play like a superstar, because everyone expects from Paul like they expect from [Cristiano] Ronaldo at Juventus or [Lionel] Messi at Barcelona. Everyone expects this from Paul in Manchester, because they know he has the qualities for this. Also this is confidence in Paul. The team, we have a lot of confidence in Paul.”
The prospect of Fernandes and Pogba forming a dynamic partnership together in the same side will be one to make supporters salivate. The reason for that is obvious, says Bruno, who has played against the 27-year-old on five occasions in Serie A while at Udinese.
“I know Paul from Juve, because I played against him in Italy. And believe me, it’s really hard to play against Paul,” Bruno adds.
“Because I play in midfield, I mark him. We play in the same line, so it’s really difficult to play against Paul, because he has power, he has technique.
“It’s difficult to find a player like Paul: big, strong and technical. It’s difficult to find a player like this, and he has a lot of qualities. I hope he comes [back] soon.”
The Portuguese dynamo expects the Frenchman to be given a warm welcome when he does make his return for the Reds which is now standing 11 matches unbeaten in all competitions.
“He started training with us in the week before we stopped, so I think when he comes back he will start to play, and be in the team.
“More than expectations, I’m confident what Paul can give to us, to the team. I think he has a lot to give, he has a lot of quality, and I think with the positive energy in the club – because we won a lot of games and we are in a good moment – everyone, the supporters and everything, will be more patient with Paul maybe.
“I feel sometimes when the things go wrong, the patience is less, you know? It’s normal, because the fans want to win. Football is about winning; it’s not about playing.
“But the confidence now in the team is bigger. So I think Paul, when he comes back, he will feel this and will give more for the next months and the next games.”