Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that he consulted former Red devils superstar Cristiano Ronaldo before they decided to sign Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon.
The Portugal international has made an instant impact at the theatre of dreams since joining in a £67.7m deal in the January transfer window.
United had extensively scouted the midfielder but Solskjaer wanted to know more about the player’s character before sanctioning the deal.
Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo know each other from playing together with the Portugal national team and the duo played an important role in their Nations League triumph last year.
And Solskjaer got Ronaldo’s phone number through Patrice Evra before calling his former United teammate to get more information about the player.
‘We’ve got the chief scouts who do all the scouting, we’ve got the analysts who analyse and break everything down to a minutest detail. But you can see that with your eye really what talent and quality you’ve got,’ Solskjaer told the High Performance Podcast.
‘Then you speak to teammates, who maybe play with them in the national team. ‘So obviously Cristiano was an easy goal for me.
‘I managed to get through Patrice Evra, I managed to get hold of Cristiano and his recommendation obviously stands him [Fernandes] in good stead.’
Solskjaer also explained how Bruno Fernandes made a positive impression on the club’s staff after arriving at Carrington.
‘He’s got the talent, of course. You can see the quality is there and we’ve seen that for a long time,’ said the United manager.
‘But then again he steps up when it matters and he does it when it matters. He’s delivered crosses, he’s delivered assists, scored goals, he’s took penalties, he’s done everything in a short space off time that you’d expect.
‘Off the field as well in training he demands off me, he demands off his teammates. ‘And the first day at the club he shook everyone’s hand. He didn’t come in here thinking, ‘I’m the big shot, you follow me’. No, he shook absolutely every staff member’s hand.
‘This is a family, Manchester United has always been a family. ‘Sir Alex the way he’s created this atmosphere at the training ground, I think it’s unique.’
