BRUNO FERNANDES’ impact at Manchester United has been nothing short of incredible.
The Portugal international has helped transform the sleeping giant into title contenders since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon almost year ago.
Bruno Fernandes has helped transform Man United since his arrivalCredit: Reuters
Fernandes, 26, is proving to be a bargain buy at £55million following his growing influence on the Red Devils.
He wasted no time hitting the ground running by scoring eight and assisting seven in 14 league appearances during his debut Premier League campaign.
And he has continued his remarkable levels into this season with 11 goals and seven assists with United challenging for their first title since 2013.
Thanks to stats data courtesy of bettingodds.com covering his first season, Fernandes has proved to be the best January buy in Premier League history.
In his first term, United improved by two places in the league, won nine games, and incredibly he wasn’t on the losing side once.
He is ahead of Daniel Sturridge who joined Liverpool from Chelsea for just £12m in January 2013.
A prolific partnership with Luis Suarez, the England international scored ten goals in the second half of the campaign and was on the winning side six times from 14 games.
Papiss Cisse had a similar impact when he moved to Newcastle from Freiburg in 2012 having bagged an impressive 13 goals.
How it’s calculated
League Position – 1 or -1 point awarded for every rise/drop in position at end of season.
Goal – 3 points awarded for every goal scored.
Assist – 2 points awarded for every assist.
Clean Sheet – 3 points for every clean sheet. Applies only to goalkeepers and defenders.
Win – 2 points were awarded for every win the new signing was involved in.
Loss – -1 point was awarded for every loss the new signing was involved in.
Draw – 1 point was awarded for every draw the new signing was involved in.
Daniel Sturridge had a similar impact when he joined Liverpool from ChelseaCredit: Getty – Contributor
One of those include his Goal of the Season when he curled a sensational effort over Petr Cech from 37 yards in a 2-0 victory over Chelsea.
Other names on the list include former Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin and Darren Bent’s switch to Aston Villa from Sunderland in 2011.
Bent helped transform the Midlands side with Gerard Houllier’s team climbing five places in the league.
Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also makes the grade after his club-record £56m arrival from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.
Although he has struggled for form this season, the Gabon ace scored ten and assisted four in his debut campaign.
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will look to pull off a similar stunning coup this month to increase the club’s chances of lifting the title.
But the Norwegian has dampened expectations that they will look to land any new additions.
He said: “I think the signings we made in the summer strengthened the squad really well.
Papiss Cisse hit the ground running instantly at NewcastleCredit: PA:Press Association
“Good signings, good characters, good players. January is always difficult but if something comes up you think is a long-term target anyway that’s another scenario.
“But not many teams would like to lose their players in January, so it’s unlikely something will happen on the inside.
“There might be two or three going out because, one, they deserve to play football, for their own good and for their own careers.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
