RIO FERDINAND has revealed that only Lionel Messi has been involved in more goals than Bruno Fernandes since he joined Manchester United in 2020.
The Portuguese star arrived at Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon as part of a £55million transfer.
The attacking midfielder has gone on to become one of the key players of the squad with his regular contributions to goals.
Since becoming a Red Devil, Fernandes has scored 60 goals and assisted 52.
And Ferdinand has claimed that statistically, he is only behind Lionel Messi for goal contributions.
During the same period of time, Messi has been involved in 140 goals at the club level.
Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube show, he said: “His passing, he’s creating chances.
“His stats, only Messi rivals him in terms of goal involvements since he signed for United.
“I’m not saying he is on Messi’s level, no one is saying that Bruno is on Messi’s level, he’s not, that’s obvious.
“But only Messi is above him in those stats.”
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The former Man United defender did go on to claim that Christian Eriksen can help Fernandes improve further now he is back from injury.
He added: “He needs [Christian] Eriksen to go to that other level.
“Eriksen, the amount of easy passes he makes that are just great for team-mates.”
Fernandes has recently been deployed in a deeper role due to the Dane’s injury but returned to his favoured position in the win over Nottingham Forest.
The win over the relegation candidates has helped Man United edge closer to Champions League qualification for next season.
