Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he sought Cristiano Ronaldo's advice before signing Bruno Fernandes.
The Manchester United boss added the Portuguese star in January in what has proved to be an inspired signing.
Fernandes has been hugely influential both on and off the pitch as the Red Devils charge towards the top four.
And whilst the club have staff to analyse performances Solskjaer concedes just watching the playmaker is enough to understand his qualities.
And United legend Ronaldo also gave Fernandes glowing review which proved key.
"We’ve got the chief scouts who do all the scouting, we’ve got the analysts who analyse and break everything down to a minutest detail. But you can see that with your eye really what talent and quality you’ve got," Solskjaer told the High Performance Podcast.
"Then you speak to teammates, who maybe play with them in the national team. So obviously Cristiano was an easy goal for me.
"I managed to get through Patrice Evra, I managed to get hold of Cristiano and his recommendation obviously stands him [Fernandes] in good stead."
Fernandes' quality on the pitch is clear with the 25-year-old frequently involved in either scoring or supplying goals.
But Solskjaer has praised the way he has embraced the culture at Old Trafford.
"He’s got the talent, of course. You can see the quality is there and we’ve seen that for a long time," added the United manager.
"But then again he steps up when it matters and he does it when it matters. He’s delivered crosses, he’s delivered assists, scored goals, he’s took penalties, he’s done everything in a short space off time that you’d expect.
"Off the field as well in training he demands off me, he demands off his teammates. And the first day at the club he shook everyone’s hand. He didn’t come in here thinking, 'I’m the big shot, you follow me’. No, he shook absolutely every staff member’s hand.
"This is a family, Manchester United has always been a family. Sir Alex the way he’s created this atmosphere at the training ground, I think it’s unique."
