Portuguese Lampard nears £70m move to Man Utd

With Bruno Fernandes reportedly close to a £70m transfer to Manchester United, Playmaker delves into the data to see whether the goalscoring midfielder will be a good fit at Old Trafford. 

With 'winger-forwards' like Felix, Hazard and Sterling all the rage, the goalscoring midfielder has become something of an endangered species in recent times - yet Fernandes' performances in Sporting's 8 shirt over recent seasons have drawn comparisons with Premier League legend Frank Lampard.  

📈 Most league goals in 2018/19 (MIDFIELDERS; 'Top 7' UEFA leagues):
20⚽: 💥FERNANDES*💥
17⚽: Havertz
13⚽: Claesson, Khazri, Pizzi, Pogba, Sarabia, Sigurdsson
12⚽: Milovojevic

*32 goals across all competitions for Sporting#SportingCP @SportingCP_en pic.twitter.com/jsLj5SK4Xa

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) June 4, 2019

Raising the bar

Let's plunge straight into the numbers. Last season Fernandes fired home 32 goals in 53 games for Sporting across all competitions - leading the Lions to victory in both Portuguese cup competitions.

To give these numbers context, Fernandes is the ONLY midfielder ever to score 30+ goals in a season in European football: his hat-trick in a thumping 8-1 win over Belenenses in early May propelling him past the previous best by a midfielder in a single season (as far as we can tell!): 29 goals by Brazilian Alex for Fenerbache in 2004/05. To return to the Lampard comparison, the Chelsea star's best goalscoring season was a none-too-shabby, but still sub-Fernandes, 27 goals in 2009/10. 

Although Sporting's rivals like to mock old photos from Fernandes' early playing days (see below...), his statistics are no laughing matter. He finished second to Benfica striker Haris Seferovic in the Primeira Liga's goal scoring charts in 2018/19 and, factoring in his impressive form in 2017/18, he has now hit 48 club goals for Sporting over the last two seasons. 

Bucking the trend

No wonder the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool are being linked with Fernandes, who unsurprisingly scored in his one full game for Portugal to date. 

So, how - at a time when the box-to-box midfield all rounder is a dying breed - is Fernandes thriving? Portuguese journalist Igor Goncalves, who writes for Portugal's largest football website www.zerozero.pt, believes it is the sheer variety in Fernandes' game that holds the key. 

"I think the comparison with Frank Lampard is the best one, in terms of English football.

"Along with Felix and Ruben Neves, Fernandes represents the future of the national team and his goal scoring this season has been truly exceptional. 

"The really impressive thing, especially for a 24-year-old, is that he scores all types of goals: he has literally scored from everywhere: outside the box, inside the box, headers, free-kicks - a cool penalty in the shoot-out victory over Porto two weeks ago. 

"What makes this all the more impressive is that Fernandes dominates games and his own team. He commands operations on the pitch and has become a true leader this season - pushing the team on when they have had injuries, most notably one to main striker Bas Dost. Fernandes has played with total freedom and has the potential to improve even further."

United in pole position?

Although there appears to have been some jockeying on both sides in recent weeks, with reports from Manchester suggesting Fernandes' signature is not a priority, it appears that the Red Devils are willing to bid £70m for the Portuguese. It will represent something of a gamble for United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who may or may not wish to listen to his predecessor José Mourinho when it comes to Fernandes. 

“I was surprised by the season of Bruno Fernandes,’ Mourinho has previously told Eleven Sports. “It was easy to predict quality, he is a very good player, but scored a very high number of goals for a midfield player.

“It shows that you need to have instinct and qualities to score and he has it all.

“He strikes the ball well, heads well, cool when he is one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He finds space in the penalty area. It’s all there.”