Bruno Fernandes spoke highly of Manchester United's summer transfer business, while reserving special praise for Brazilian attacker Matheus Cunha, who moved to United from Wolves in the last window. Fernandes, being the leader of the pack at Old Trafford, named the unique qualities of each of United's new four signings as the club spent heavily to rebuild the squad under Ruben Amorim.
Amorim spent heavily in the summer
Amorim oversaw a nightmare debut campaign at Old Trafford since taking charge of the club in November 2024 as United finished 15th in the Premier League and ended the season without a trophy or a European slot. Naturally, the Portuguese coach approached the summer transfer window aggressively as he spent heavily on four new signings to strengthen the squad.
Amorim's focus was more on the attack as he raided Premier League rivals Brentford and Wolves to sign Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha. For the No.9 role, the Red Devils went all out for RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko after Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund failed miserably in that position last season.
The club also got rid of underperforming Andre Onana as the Cameroonian goalkeeper left Old Trafford after just two years to join Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor on loan. They replaced their first-choice keeper with the highly-rated Belgian custodian Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesBruno hails United's new signings and praises Cunha
Speaking about the club's latest additions, United skipper Fernandes said: "No, obviously. I think at this club, every time I spoke with anyone who was talking with me, they were asking we need to sign good players and everything else. We need to sign big characters, not good players because at this club, being good players sometimes is not enough because of the pressure, because of the attention we get and everything. I think we brought in players that are very aware of the dimension of the club. You spoke about Cunha. Cunha has that good arrogance to do the good things and the right things, so that's something good. Bryan, also the same. He's not afraid to take the ball, to do his play, to do his things. We brought two players who were aware of the Premier League, also.
"And then we brought a very young goalkeeper and a centre-forward, they hit the ground flying (running). Obviously, we know Ben will be judged by scoring goals or not. But a part of that, he's been doing great, whatever he's being asked to do. He's got his goals already, and I think now it's going to come more and more because he's more than capable of scoring goals. Senne came probably with the intention of being the number one. He had to wait for his moment. The moment came and he was ready for that. So this is what this club is about. You come, the moment will be there straightaway and you have to take it."
'Sometimes I get upset with him in training'
Fernandes added: "I think these four players were very good in taking that opportunity of ‘I want to be the one that is playing every week’. When we speak about Cunha, the thing of having the arrogance to say ‘give me the ball, I want to play, I want to make things’. With time, sometimes it won't be good for people because I've been through that. He always wants the ball, he's always doing this, he's always doing that. But for us, on the inside, we want this Cunha. We want you to take the risks, to shoot, to take people on, to create.
"Bryan, the same. ‘Bryan, just get your shots on’. Sometimes I get upset with him in training because he's like, one touch more, one touch more and everything. I say, ‘Bryan, you don't need that. You can one touch and shoot because you're more than able to do that. You did that against us when you were at Brentford! You just have to make it for us now. The shirts have changed, but you're the same player so we need that from you. Ben is very eager to learn and that's very good from someone that has done very well in the Bundesliga and everything, came with the biggest, probably like the price tag and everything. But in his mind, he's like, I want to learn, I want to become better. Then on the weekends, he transforms himself into a different person on the pitch. He's someone that is like, ‘I know what I have to do. I want to score goals. I'm going to get into the box, I'm going to get into duels. I'm going to win my headers’. And that's very important for us."
Getty ImagesMan Utd eyeing major milestone
The Red Devils are on a roll after beating Sunderland and reigning champions Liverpool in back-to-back Premier League matches, a feat that was never achieved in the Amorim era until this October. The English giants are now aiming to build on this success and pick up a third consecutive victory when they face Brighton at home on Saturday, a feat the club has not accomplished in 49 games. That winning run came during games in February 2024, when they beat Wolves, West Ham, and Aston Villa, which was part of a larger winning streak under former manager Erik ten Hag.