Former Manchester United star Owen Hargreaves has likened Bruno Fernandes to Paul Scholes after his display in the 5-0 win over Club Brugge in the Europa League.
The Reds came into the last 32 second-leg tie with a 1-1 scoreline on aggregate but hammered the Belgium side and cruised home at Old Trafford.
Fernandes opened the scoring from the spot before Odion Ighalo and Scott McTominay netted and Fred bagged a brace.
Hargreaves was in the BT Sport studio with Scholes for the Europa League clash and post-match he lavished praise on the 25-year-old Portugal international.
"There are a lot of smiles after the game and the crowd are cheering Bruno's name," Hargreaves told BT Sport.
"He is just so smart. He is like Scholes when I played with him, he was always one or two steps ahead of everyone else.
"Bruno just seems like he has the picture before the ball comes to him. He knows exactly what he wants to do with the ball."
Hargreaves also questioned why other clubs didn't attempt to sign Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon during the January transfer window and instead allowed the Reds to pounce.
He added: "It does make you question a little bit (why other teams didn't attempt to sign him). When you look at his numbers and even though it was the Portuguese league, you watch him play and you know that is a proper player. He looks incredibly good value already."
