Rasmus Hojlund defends Bruno Fernandes amid rumours he fell out with Man Utd captain | Football

Fernandes announced himself as one of the most exciting attacking talents in Premier League football on the back of a £67million switch from Sporting to Old Trafford back in 2020, finishing his first full season in England as United’s top scorer with 28 goals in all competitions.

The 29-year-old has struggled to hit those phenomenal heights over the last three years, but remains a key player and leader in Erik ten Hag’s dressing room, taking over the captain’s armband from Harry Maguire last summer.

And while Fernandes boasts a commendable tally of 15 goals and 11 assists for the Red Devils this term, he has been the subject of heavy criticism from some quarters across what has been an immensely disappointing campaign – with the club’s top-four hopes seemingly over.

However, United have the chance to finish their difficult campaign on a high when they take to the field for a much-anticipated FA Cup final clash with holders Manchester City at Wembley later this month – a repeat of last year’s showpiece.

With tensions high at the Theatre of Dreams, reports emerged last week claiming that summer arrival Hojlund had grown frustrated with Fernandes for failing to provide him with enough service.

It’s believed Hojlund even told United’s coaching staff about the apparent problem before the pair dropped their feud – and it appears the Denmark striker has well and truly put their disagreement to bed.

‘I just want to tell him: “Thanks for the ball, Bruno!”,’ Hojlund said.

‘I was very happy for him because he’s also getting a lot of criticism.

‘It’s not fair because he’s doing everything at a top level all the time and he’s an amazing captain.’

According to Hojlund, United have the opportunity to ‘do something special’ by upsetting Manchester City in the cup.

‘We have a chance to win the cup. It’s my first chance to win silverware,’ he added.

‘For me, this is a big game and I think we have a good chance to do something special now for the rest of the season.’

Hojlund reflected on the ‘great emotions’ he felt when he finally broke his duck in the Premier League with a dramatic late goal in United’s Boxing Day victory over Aston Villa.

‘I was just happy in the end that everything was done and I could finally start playing for my favourite team. Dreams don’t get much better than that,’ he explained.

‘2-0 down at half-time [against Aston Villa], we talked through it and we were saying that we need to keep on going and we would get the goals and suddenly we were 3-2 up, I scored my first Premier League goal.

‘There were some great emotions there.’

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