He's like Fernandes: Amorim chasing "really exciting" £67m Man Utd signing

Back in 2018, then-Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho singled out midfield star, Nemanja Matic, for praise following the FA Cup quarter-final victory over Brighton and Hove Albion, with the Serbian giant described as an “island of personality and desire and control“, while “surrounded by a lack of personality, class and desire”.

It would not be wrong for new boss Ruben Amorim to repeat such a statement with regard to his talismanic skipper, Bruno Fernandes, with the 30-year-old having no doubt been United’s ‘island’ in the drab Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon.

With Amad Diallo having been absent since early February, the onus has largely fallen on Fernandes to make things happen for his side, with the weekend stalemate again no different.

Lauded by MUTV pundit Phil Bardsley as the “best player on the pitch by a country mile“, the Portuguese playmaker is intent on trying to steer this sinking ship to a brighter destination.

Once there was the “Harry Kane team” – as Tottenham Hotspur were mockingly described by Pep Guardiola in 2017 – with United now in danger of becoming the ‘Bruno Fernandes team’, unless signings of a similar ilk can be found…

Latest on Man Utd’s search for a forward

Having now failed to score in 12 Premier League games this season, the priority for Amorim and co this summer will surely be to bolster the misfiring forward line, with the 40-year-old perhaps keen to raid his former side, Sporting CP, to help revive his current ranks.

The Portuguese coach has already missed out on Chelsea-bound teenager, Geovany Quenda, however, while there have been reports that it is ‘unlikely’ that a reunion with Sporting goal machine, Viktor Gyokeres, will take place this summer.

That is a view that has been echoed by a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, with the piece outling that the ‘most likely big-name‘ to arrive from the Lisbon outfit is actually Francisco Trincao, rather than Gyokeres.

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Indeed, the former Barcelona and Wolverhampton Wanderers winger is noted as a ‘leading’ alternative to current Molineux star, Matheus Cunha, amid Amorim’s search for a new forward, with the United boss having ‘pinpointed’ Trincao as a viable option.

The 25-year-old – who has a reported £67m release clause in his existing contract – is said to be ‘firmly in Amorim’s sights’ ahead of the start of the window, with the Portuguese ace having already proven himself to be a real weapon in his compatriot’s 3-4-3 set-up.

Why Man Utd could be targeting the next Bruno Fernandes

It almost doesn’t need repeating what Fernandes has achieved in a United shirt thus far, with the experienced midfielder chalking up 95 goals and 83 assists in 279 games in all competitions to date, while winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup to boot.

Signed from Sporting for a fee of around £46m in January 2020, the playmaking genius had proven his quality during his stint with the Liga Portugal side, racking up 113 goals and assists in just 137 games across all fronts.

While operating in a more advanced role than his international colleague, Trincao – who has ten caps for his country – could well follow in Fernandes’ footsteps, having also dazzled in Lisbon in recent times.

The tricky left-footer boasts 61 goals and assists in 146 games for his current side, with that including a remarkable total of nine goals and 15 assists in 2024/25 thus far. Back at Old Trafford, only Fernandes has chalked up more goal involvements (33) this season.

It was actually Amorim who “launched Trincao’s professional career at Braga” in 2019, as per writer Zach Lowy, before reuniting with him at Sporting, with the in-demand forward having registered 56 goal involvements in 131 games under the current United boss in total.

While he did find life difficult in the Premier League previously at Wolves – after scoring and assisting just four times in 30 games for the Old Gold – he could well be deserving of another crack at it, not least under a familiar face like Amorim.

Once hailed as a “really exciting player” at Molineux by technical director Scott Sellars, Trincao evidently mirrors Fernandes in his creative prowess, having created 14 ‘big chances’ and averaged 2.2 key passes per game in the league this season. Fernandes, for reference, has created 12 ‘big chances’, albeit while averaging 2.5 key passes per game in England’s top flight.

With the Red Devils skipper having dropped into a deep-lying berth of late, his creative influence could then be replicated by the one-time Barca man in one of the two number ten roles, thus helping to try and spark some life into the club’s floundering forward line.

Having seen the magic that Fernandes can conjure up in English football, if Trincao could make a fraction of that impact, then United – and Amorim – will be on to a winner.

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