Fernandes cites Ronaldo inspiration as key to his Man Utd success
Bruno Fernandes has revealed he takes inspiration from the mentality of Cristiano Ronaldo, who began his rise to stardom at Fernandes’ current club, Manchester United.
The similarities between the two players are striking, with both having joined from Sporting Lisbon and both making a considerable impact upon their arrival.
Ronaldo would win the Champions League and Ballon d’Or in a United shirt and Fernandes is not far off that level, having registered 28 goals and 17 assists in 58 games last season.
Fernandes, though, believes Ronaldo’s refusal to rest on his laurels was his biggest strength – he went on to win another four Ballons d’Or and Champions Leagues. The playmaker is looking to emulate that insatiable desire for improvement under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “Growing up, everyone knows Cristiano was my favourite player.
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“I think it was a little bit of everything. When Cristiano began to take his first steps in the national team, it was in the Euros in our home country [Euro 2004], so I was nine years old. That year stays with everyone because we lost the final in Portugal, we saw him crying after the final, he was a young boy who was starting to shine and from there I started to watch him.
“It wasn’t because he plays in my position because that wasn’t the case, but it was the way he worked every day, the mentality he had, the capacity he had to give 100 per cent in every game at a high level, for me it was like a motivation, like you always have to do better. He was scoring goals every game, but game after game he was still trying to improve, get better.
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“My mentality comes a little bit from understanding what sort of player you want to be. Do you want to be that player who has a good season, and maybe goes up and down, up and down, or do you want to be the player who always wants to be at the top? Okay, you will have bad games for sure, everyone has – Cristiano has had bad games, 100 per cent – but the point is, coming back from a bad game.
“Coming back with the mentality that is, ‘okay I didn’t play well in that last game and I really need to do well in this one’. The mentality to do better day after day is really important for me. I’m improving a lot because of this, and that was my biggest motivation.”