BRUNO FERNANDES returned to Portugal just days after his Manchester United transfer.
The new Red Devils playermaker, 25, hot-footed it back to his homeland to watch former side Sporting Lisbon in action on Sunday.
Fernandes completed his 55million move from Sporting to United on Thursday to finally put the ongoing saga to bed.
And 48 hours later he started at Old Trafford on his debut in the 0-0 draw with Wolves.
But he made sure he was in attendance to see how his former team-mates would get on in their first game without the midfielder.
They are clearly struggling without their ex-talisman – because Sporting lost 1-0 at Braga.
Francisco Trincao fired home 14 minutes from time for the hosts, who leapfrogged Sporting into third in the Primeira Liga.
Fernandes broke down in tears last week as he said his goodbye to Sporting.
To bid farewell to the club he captained while scoring 63 times in 137 games, the star sobbed and thanked Sporting and their supporters.
He even sent one fan a personal message on Instagram as he wrote: “I won’t forget your little tears, whether you believe it or not your tears and words messed with me! I hope one day later I have the chance to see you again.”
Fernandes was arguably United’s best player in the stalemate on Saturday evening, constantly looking for the ball and making himself available for it.
He managed the full 90 minutes and was cheered on from one of the boxes by his wife Ana Pinho and adorable daughter Matilde, who turned three on Friday.
Childhood sweetheart Ana, 25, shared a cute picture of herself holding Matilde – wearing a No18 United shirt with her name on the back – and pointing towards her dad on the pitch.
Former Sporting and Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo played a big part in the transfer, speaking to both his international team-mate and Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Fernandes said: “I talked about Manchester United with Cristiano. He just said good things about United.
“He said he started living his dream here and he started being a really good player here.
“I think he is happy with my transfer and I also talked with Ole and he said he asked Cristiano about me and he said good things about me which is good.
“Cristiano plays with me in the national team and he knows me, and for me hes a good person. I want to follow his steps.”
