BRUNO FERNANDES plays like Paul Scholes and is already taking on a leaders role at Manchester United.
His impressive cameo in the Europa League draw in Bruges on Thursday confirmed his potential to bring creativity and purpose to Ole Gunnar Solskjaers team.
But while Scholes let his football do the talking, the 46.6million Portuguese international is a strong voice in the dressing room, too.
Boss Solskjaer said: He reminds me of Scholesy as a player but definitely a different type of personality off the pitch.
Against Club Brugge, when hes on the bench, he walks around, he speaks to the players who start, he helps them, he gives them points.
And the ten minutes he played you could see that theres a difference in our team.
Hes another conductor and leader and winner. He wants to win. He doesnt take 99 per cent as good enough and hes impressed me.
Thats something you see when you watch him but you dont know about until you have him in your group. Hes been top class.
It was tough to take any solid conclusions from Thursday in Bruges because Solskjaer rotated his squad, while the weather – and the ball, according to the Norwegian – did not help either side to play good football.
But what was undeniable was the impact of Fernandes.
He tried to drive United forward in search of a winner and to make things happen – and when they did not, he was not afraid to make his displeasure known to his new team-mates.
It is early days but Fernandes looks like a player with the quality and character that the club so badly needs.
The same can be said of Harry Maguire, who was fast-tracked to the captaincy after the January exit of Ashley Young. Solskjaer said: That was in early talks with him as well, that he can take the leadership, hes the one we wanted.
I didnt expect him to be captain this quickly but hes been in the dressing room and with the coaches, hes vocal, hes got the experience, hes got everything a captain should have.
Its natural for him to take that role, his performances have helped.
That was one of the attributes we looked at when we signed him.
As with Fernandes, it is way too early to expect Maguire to live up to the achievements of past United skippers.
But the England centre-half, who joined for 85m from Leicester last summer, has a key attribute to make a success of the role a thick skin.
Solskjaer said: Weve had different captains Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Giggsy. Theyve been different personalities.
Harrys his own man, but Man United is, if not the biggest, one of the two or three biggest clubs in the world and hes now the frontman.
You have to be thick skinned, you cant sulk or feel sorry for yourself, you have to get on with things and be proactive. Hes got to lead men – weve got a few men and some boys as well – and hes got to go in front as an example for everyone.
Youve got to be able to churn out games, play time and time again.
Hes never asked for a rest, he plays internationals, he plays for us, he plays midweek and weekend and hes that type of personality that wants to be out there on the pitch, thats a leader.
He organises paintballing, he organises a fining system, hes taken on everything.
On Sunday, United will play Watford and the game will be a better indicator than Thursday of whether things really are improving at Old Trafford.
The 2-0 December defeat at Vicarage Road to the then bottom-placed Hornets was one of the low points of the season.
It was another step backwards after the victory at Manchester City earlier in the month.
And United need to start backing up Premier League results like Mondays win at Chelsea if they are going to challenge for a Champions League place.
Solskjaer said: Its a chance for the boys. Weve given many of them a rest so they should be fresh and ready for that game.
Watford have had a break. Maybe well catch them off guard.
The boys know that we cannot have too many slip-ups if we are going to challenge for the top four.
Thats what we want to do because you cant just rely on the Europa League as the way into Champions League, because at any point you can have a bad refereeing decision or a mistake can happen.
The league is a priority. We need to get this momentum going.
