Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is determined to put his name in the Premier League record books, but his top priority is helping the team win titles. The Portuguese midfielder has already been awarded the footballer of the year award by English journalists, capping a remarkable season at Old Trafford.
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The Portuguese international is just one assist away from equaling the record of 20 passes on goal in a single Premier League season, a mark jointly held by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry. However, Bruno emphasizes that his main focus is collective success, with winning the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League as central objectives.
«I’ve said before that it’s a very special record because it belongs to Thierry and Kevin. They were extraordinary players in the Premier League for many, many years and it would be great to achieve that,” he said after receiving the award from the English press. Despite the proximity of the historic milestone, the player insists that the team’s goals are more important.
«I don’t want to focus too much on that because we want to achieve our goals, and one of them was to return to the Champions League places. We wanted to return to the European places and being back in the Champions League is even better”, he explained.
The midfielder recognizes that creating chances is part of his game, but reiterates that the collective always comes first. “Part of my game is creating chances, passing the ball to my teammates and helping them score goals, and if I have the opportunity to score mine, I’ll be happy to take it. That record would be a fantastic achievement, but it’s not something I really want to focus on,” he added.
With a return to the Champions League next season already assured, the captain also mentioned that Michael Carrick allowed the team to dream of the title. “Michael did very well at Middlesbrough. Things haven’t gone well for him this season — perhaps luckily! Because that way he became available to the club and had the opportunity to return, and he did a fantastic job at the end of the season”, he commented, leaving the decision about the coach’s future in the hands of the club.
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