Four days after his red card against Tottenham Hotspur was overturned, there will be no reprieve for Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes in Porto.
Sent off as the Red Devils threw away yet another lead at the Estadio da Luz – and rightly so this time, unlike during that 3-0 aberration versus Spurs – Man United’s near ever-present skipper will be suspended for that trip to Fenerbahce on October 24th.
Though some may argue that a spell out of the starting XI has been warranted for a while now, even if this was not the way it was supposed to come about.
Bruno Fernandes’ near-impeccable standards have slipped alarmingly during a poor start to 2024/25.
And, while the ink may still be drying on the Portugal international’s contract, the sight of Fernandes descending into a pot-shot parody of his once effervescent self is a worrying one indeed.
Especially for a Manchester United side so reliant upon his seemingly dwindling ability to make something out of nothing.
And, regardless of Fernandes’ current form, it is impossible to escape the fact that there were 30 candles on Bruno’s birthday cake last month.
Though few would argue that a new contract was not warranted – even in hindsight – continuing to rely on an ageing, out-of-sorts playmaker with so many miles on the clock feels like, if not a recipe for disaster, then certainly a risk of food poisoning.
Martin Baturina can ease Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes reliance
Those links with Dinamo Zagreb starlet Martin Baturina, via Croatian publication Germanijak, may therefore take on extra significance should Fernandes continue to struggle over the coming months.
The report claims that Manchester United have been scouting the £17 million-rated Baturina for some time. They allegedly watched him in action both for Croatia and for Dinamo Zagreb back in September.
And if there were any Red Devils talentspotters in the stands of the Stadion Maksimir as Dinamo hosted Monaco in the Champions League this week, any report on Baturina’s display is likely to have been glowing.
Lining up in the sort of advanced number eight role that Fernandes has made his own at Old Trafford, Baturina produced his sixth assist in 11 games as he threaded a pass into Peter Sucic’s path on the stroke of half time.
21-year-old Baturina would double Dinamo’s second, meanwhile, with the sort of scorching finish that was once Fernandes’ trademark.
Cutting onto his left foot, Baturina curled an unsavable strike into the Monaco net from outside the penalty area.
“[Against Monaco] he showed that he is a player whose qualities are far above the Croatian league,” former Dinamo goalkeeper Tomislav Ivkovic told reporters at full-time.
“Anyone who knows anything about football sees, in Baturina, a great player and a future starter of the Croatian national team. He is a boy of exceptional talent,” agrees Sportske Novosti reporter Damir Dobrinic, likening the Split-born playmaker to former Dinamo and now-Barcelona ace Dani Olmo.
“We saw against Monaco that, even against the best European teams, he has something to say on the field.”
Dinamo Zagreb star has been labelled Croatia’s new Luka Modric
Unsurprisingly – and perhaps predictably – the Real Madrid-linked Baturina has been labelled the ‘next Luka Modric’ by some back home in Croatia.
Though, it must be said, the goal he rattled in against Monaco was eerily similar to the sort of strike Modric has produced countless times during his storied career, shifting away from his marker before whipping a shot with pace and curl inside the far post.
With Modric now 39 – even his evergreen leaves are starting to turn brown around the edges – Croatia will have a sizeable void to fill in their midfield before long.
Manchester United, in contrast, are not quite at the same stage of their own succession planning.
But with Bruno Fernandes’ performances taking a nosedive after that new contract and May’s FA Cup final triumph, this feels like the right time not to replace him but to put the plans in place for life after Bruno.
If this Champions League first-round phase is Baturina’s audition for a move to one of Europe’s A-list clubs, then he is certainly passing it so far.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/ymdobau