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\u2019s midfield when football returns.<\/p>\n
Fernandes has been glowing in his appraisal of Pogba\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
When asked how excited he is to play with Paul, Bruno replies:\u00a0\u201cA lot. A lot. I think we have a lot of good players in the midfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously Paul is injured from a long time [ago], and all we know is he has a lot of qualities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Paul from Juve, because I played against him in Italy. And believe me, it’s really hard to play against Paul,\u201d\u00a0Bruno adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore 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 \u2013 because we won a lot of games and we are in a good moment \u2013 everyone, the supporters and everything, will be more patient with Paul maybe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"