Bruno Fernandes flew back to Portugal to watch his old Sporting Lisbon teammates in action after making his Manchester United debut against Wolves.
Fernandes was spotted in the stands alongside his agent Miguel Pinho at the Braga Municipal Stadium on Sunday night.
The Portugal international did not prove to be a good luck charm, though, as Sporting succumbed to a 1-0 loss - their third defeat in four matches.
Fernandes played the full 90 minutes as United drew 0-0 with Wolves on Saturday and failed to narrow the gap to Chelsea in fourth place after the Stamford Bridge club drew 2-2 with Leicester earlier in the day.
Chelsea have dropped points in four of their five Premier League games in 2020 and United have failed to capitalise on each occasion.
Chelsea drew with Brighton on New Year's Day before United lost to Arsenal at the Emirates, then on January 18 Chelsea were beaten by Newcastle at St James' Park before United lost at Liverpool the following day.
Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Arsenal on January 21 gave United another opportunity to make up ground on Frank Lampard's side but the Reds lost 2-0 at home to Burnley the following day.
Of Fernandes' debut against Wolves, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: "I think he did well. It's his first game with new teammates, I think he played well.
"You want him to express himself and spur teammates on, that's one of the first things I told him: 'just be yourself, don't change your character, try to get on the ball, make things happen'."
