Bruno Fernandes has been warned that his second full season in English football will be his toughest so far.
The Portuguese has been a revelation for Manchester United since he was signed from Sporting in 2020.
Since his arrival in English football, he has netted 40 times and registered 25 assists in just 80 games for the Red Devils.
Thanks to those performances, former United striker Louis Saha believes that the increased expectations, along with extra attention from opponents will make the 2021/22 campaign a potentially tricky one.
“This season will also be really tough as everyone’s expectations of him will be very high,” Saha told GentingBet.
“What he’s done is extraordinary and it will be difficult for him to achieve those levels again – for two reasons. Firstly, people now know what he’s capable of and as a result, they will make his game really difficult.”
Saha has also urged Fernandes’ United teammates to begin to ease the workload on the 26-year-old, particularly when it comes to scoring goals.
“The burden needs to be shared,” he continued. “United will need to learn to play better as a team. Players like Sancho, Rashford and Martial will have to contribute.
“It can’t be like it was last year with the overreliance on Fernandes to score all the goals.
“United need to share the load between the team and that will help Fernandes kick on further.”
Fernandes and Paul Pogba showed there were reasons for optimism when it comes to them building a formidable partnership.
And Saha thinks that if Pogba can become less of a story off the pitch, he has all the talents to be the best in the world sitting behind Fernandes in midfield.
“With Paul Pogba, it all boils down to stability,” he explained. “He is a player that needs stability to perform at his best level.
“At United, there always seems to be something to distract him; he makes headlines for reasons outside of his performance like transfer rumours etc which creates instability.
“He doesn’t have this instability with France, he knows he is going to play every game, and that shows in his performances.
“I really hope that he stays at United. He’s the best Number 8 in the world. If you want to control a midfield, if you want to disrupt a midfield and a defence, if you want to win a trophy, if you want to be excited, he’s definitely one of the best players for that.
“So, there is no reason to want him to leave unless he’s disrupting the squad.
“That’s not the case as everyone enjoys playing with him. I’m just looking for a great season from him.”
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