Don’t be surprised if Bruno Fernandes flops at Manchester United

Manchester United pulled off the signing of Bruno Fernandes this week, but based on recent history, he could just turn out to be another expensive flop.

Manchester United fans were over the moon when the news of Bruno Fernandes’ signing became official this week, and rightfully so. The Portuguese international had been linked to the club for a while, but reports late last week suggested that a deal could potentially be dead in the water. So, for the club to make a comeback in the negotiations like that is certainly something to celebrate.

The players himself is full of quality too – that’s for certain. He is quality on the ball, is relatively versatile, and always puts a shift in whether it be on or off the ball.

However, there is always a worry when Manchester United splash the cash these days:

None of their recent expensive signings in recent history have exceeded expectations, or even met them. And by every single one, I mean every single one.

Pogba is a great player but has he exceeded expectations? No chance. Maguire and Wan-Bissaka are both good too, but have they shown that their transfer fees were worth it? Not even close. If you go back a bit further, players like Romelu Lukaku, Angel di Maria, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, and Nemanja Matic have all failed to live up to their price tags.

This begs the question: why on earth are Manchester United still splashing money around like fools? Maybe the answer is that they have so much money regardless of how poorly they’re doing on the pitch that they can’t help but spend it.

So based on recent history, there’s quite a good chance that Bruno Fernandes will flop at Manchester United. Of course he could be great, but the fee is rather large and he will have expectations on his shoulders.

It’s not like he’s entering a cohesive, supportive playing system or club either. Manchester United are unstable on the pitch and in the boardroom, as they have a group of extremely incompetent people running the club, and a bang average coach taking all the blame.

Bruno Fernandes is going to have to be something really special to shine in this team, because ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club, good signings have been a rarity at Old Trafford.