Sports

Man Utd fans laugh at themselves if they think Bruno Fernandes is the new Paul Scholes

May 8, 2020

Johnny Giles thinks Manchester United and his fans are “joking” if they believe Bruno Fernandes is the new Paul Scholes.

Fernandes, 25, joined United in January for £ 67 million from Sporting Lisbon, where he was the Portuguese double player of the year and was on his side who won the first crown in the UEFA Nations League last summer.

His stock has since continued to soar, and in nine games, the midfielder played for United, scoring three goals.

But Giles doesn’t accept the comparison to Scholes and that’s why he thinks that Jack Grealish’s signature at Aston Villa could work.

Giles says Fernandes is a midfielder who scores goals, like Chelsea’s top scorer, Frank Lampard, rather than a complete playmaker like legendary United States.

Bruno Fernandes is more Frank Lampard than Paul Scholes, says Johnny Giles
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

“It bothers me when I hear people say that Fernandes is the next Scholes and the perfect midfielder,” said Giles, 79, who played for United between 1957 and 1963.

” This is not the case. He is far from Scholes and never will be. The people at the club will laugh at themselves if they think he’s going to do what Scholes did. He doesn’t play anywhere near the way Scholes played, even in a positional sense.

“Scholes was one of the best midfielders I have seen who can link the team from the back to the front. He was the best I’ve seen in a long time, especially when he was playing with Roy Keane, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs.

“He was the one who knitted everything together and he was one of the great midfielders, so I don’t think Fernandes is a Scholes.

“Fernandes is a midfielder who scores goals. It should be an asset to the club, but not the way it is described at the moment.

“He will look more like a Lampard because, whenever I see him, he always has a good shot on him and good abilities.

“He will be a midfielder and there is nothing wrong with that. Scoring goals and making them goals makes him an asset, but he will not initiate himself. “

A graduate of the Academy, Scholes excelled in two spells at Old Trafford between 1994 and 2013, playing 718 games with 155 goals and 55 assists in the Premier League. Having retired in 2011, he returned the following January.

Tony Dunne, Bobby Charlton, Noel Cantwell, Pat Crerand, Albert Quixall, David Herd and Johnny Giles from Manchester United — Johnny Giles (far right) helped Manchester United win the FA Cup in 1963
(Image: Mirrorpix)

Giles, FA Cup winner with United in 1963 before moving to Leeds where he acquired his own legendary status, believes that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team now needs a similar playmaker capable of linking defense
and attack to bring out the best in Fernandes.

And that potential solution is the pursuit of Grealish by United £ 70m.

Villa skipper Grealish, 24, has excelled this season with eight top goals and seven assists, despite the club’s difficulties near the bottom of the Premier League table.

And Giles, who lives in Birmingham, added: “Grealish would be more likely to make a Scholes for Manchester United than Fernandes.

Giles wants to see Jack Grealish playing in the middle rather than on each side
(Image: Getty Images)

“He plays on one side or the other for Villa, but I would like to see him play in the middle.

“He has good control, he walks in front of people and uses the ball well. He and Fernandes would be chalk and cheese in the way they play. So Grealish could come from a deep position and pick it up by the back four, and Fernandes would need that to choose it.