Sidelined Fernandes leaves United in a midfield mess

Did it ever occur to the Old Trafford hierarchy that their captain and talisman might get injured, writes Richard Jolly

- Richard Jolly

“Strange,” said Ruben Amorim. And if there have been plenty of odd developments at Manchester United in recent years, this may have been the weirdest. Bruno Fernandes was injured and this just does not happen. Almost six years since his arrival, the United captain has missed exactly two games with injury. That number is set to rise, possibly dramatically.

Fernandes will be out for a while, in Amorim’s estimation. United will be shorn of the man who was captain, ever-present, set-piece specialist, penalty taker, invariably top of the assist charts, sometimes the top scorer and frequently the greatest source of salvation when they were losing. Apart from that, though, what does Bruno Fernandes do for Manchester United?

The chances are that it never occurred to the club that Fernandes might get injured. The composition of the midfield in their squad suggested as much. They never replaced Christian Eriksen when he left. They spent £230m on players in the summer, none of them midfielders. They entered the season with only four senior specialist central midfielders.

Of those, Amorim clearly does not trust Kobbie Mainoo, who is still yet to start a league game this season; his own ill-timed calf injury could deny him the chance to replace Fernandes against Newcastle on Boxing Day. Then there is Manuel Ugarte, who may be the worst passer of a ball of any United central midfielder in decades.