Twenty-two Premier League matches have been played this year, with Manchester United finely poised in fifth place.
The Red Devils are five points out of securing a Champions League place, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking for a boost before the last stretch of fixtures.
On the pitch, Fernandes seems to possess valuable tools that are pertinent to the issues that United have been experiencing, especially in respect to finding goals and forging opportunities against stubborn defensive teams.
He is predominantly a fundamental or offensive midfielder, but he has been set up as a centre forward and a broad player on both flanks over the course of the last year.
After delving into the statistical side of the game, he is a player that’s tough to ignore.
Last year he made 53 appearances for his club and found the internet 32 times in addition to registering 18 assists. This year, he has made 25 appearances, scoring 15 times and helping 13.
Those amounts are undeniably impressive. A goal or an assist was contributed by the Portuguese every 88 minutes since the beginning of last season.
Fernandes is obviously an output with a certain end product to his match. His characters are affected slightly by his propensity to take corners, free-kicks, and penalties, but they are outstanding no matter.
The Sporting midfielder can supply such a threat basically because he is a really active shooter, averaging four per 90 for his team this season, after submitting 3.04 per 90 final season.
For perspective, 228 players have gathered over 1,000 minutes at the Premier League this year, with Sergio Aguero averaging the maximum, 3.99 per 90. No midfielder is trying over 2.91 shots per 90 this year, with that figure being submitted by Kevin De Bruyne.
Certainly, Fernandes shoots from virtually everywhere, which is not commonly deemed as positive because in most cases, there are probably better and more productive choices to take. Expected Goals (xG) provides an insight into the probability of a shot being scored by considering aspects like difficulty and place, and Fernandes seems to post low xG per shot numbers because he shoots from unrealistic places.
On the other hand, the Red Devils have a midfield that is made up of players that are generally similar and largely unthreatening without the existence of Paul Pogba. Fernandes’ profile is surely different, and his shooting from space, though it might not always be effective, does add to the element of chance which can occasionally prove useful, particularly against well-drilled defensive groups.
In general, his shot map captures his character perfectly. He’s the greatest insecure versus high-reward player. Very lively, lively and dangerous, who is often heavily involved both with and without the ball consequently.
He is aggressive and tends to get a reasonable quantity of yellow cards, but he is also fouled a lot himself, which stems from his dribbling tendencies.
There is a question as to if his output would translate right to the Premier League, given that the quality is substantially greater than in Portugal, but it is very probable that Fernandes’ all-action, chaotic approach to the game would stay.
