A new Man Utd era - but Fernandes still sets the standard

As Manchester United's home game with Ipswich Town drew to its conclusion, the skies went dark grey and the heavens opened.

Thunder and lightning accompanied a torrential downpour, followed by the obligatory pictures of rain pouring into the stadium through a leak in the roof.

It would have been a fitting visual metaphor for an awful afternoon for the Old Trafford hosts.

But this wasn't awful for United in the end, and for that a lot of credit must go to skipper Bruno Fernandes.

On a day when Marcus Rashford started his first Premier League game for the club since December 2024 and Kobbie Mainoo was also part of Michael Carrick's starting line-up, it was Fernandes who took centre stage.

A hat-trick in United's 5-2 win made the day all about him.

"What else can I say?" said head coach Carrick.

"We've said quite a lot about him already - and I've only been here six or seven months."

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To sum up, the season started pretty badly for Fernandes, who was one of many players well below par in a shock 2-0 defeat at Hull City.

Matters improved significantly on Tuesday, as Fernandes collected the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for his phenomenal contribution to United returning to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

Last season, he totted up a Premier League record of 21 assists.

Before the Ipswich game, he walked on to the pitch with the sons of PC Matthew Blades, who was tragically killed in a recent head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough.

Once the match began, Fernandes was largely anonymous as the home side went a goal down to Gary O'Neil's side.

But, when opportunity presented itself, Fernandes stepped up.

First, the 31-year-old fired home a blistering equaliser after Marcelino Nunez slipped under no pressure, presenting Matheus Cunha with a clear run at the Ipswich goal, which allowed him to set up his captain.

Fernandes then kept his cool to smash home a penalty in front of the Stretford End to make it 3-1 after an hour. Bearing in mind Fernandes missed two penalties in pre-season, there must have been a sizeable amount of personal pressure on the shot.

Fernandes completed his third United hat-trick seven minutes after that, although arguably all his previous efforts would have been overshadowed had he managed to find the net with an audacious 55-yard effort after Ipswich lost possession straight after the restart.

Goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen was backpedalling furiously and was relieved the ball ended up on top of his net rather than in it.

"He means a lot," said Carrick, when asked to sum up Fernandes' contribution.

"I mean, he's the captain. He's been here for a good number of years now and experienced a whole load of different emotions.

"Times like today, when you're looking towards certain players to give us that little bit of something else, he did particularly well."

'Huge hole at Man Utd without Bruno'

Not everything is straightforward around Fernandes, though.

He has entered the final year of his contract – United have the option to extend by another year – and while it is clear that interest from elsewhere in Europe, including from Turkish club Galatasaray, will not result in him leaving this month, he could justifiably say he should be the highest earner - a status that now belongs to Rashford.

The idea of Fernandes leaving, even at the age of 31, is not something many United fans would be comfortable with.

"He is the one that gets Manchester United ticking," former United and England wide man Ashley Young told Sky Sports. "There is a reason why he was voted player of the year by his fellow professionals and it's performances like this.

"He wants to be the best and he wants to win. He is huge for his club. If they don't have him, there is going to be a huge hole in this team."

At the final whistle, Fernandes' initial reaction was to talk to substitute Benjamin Sesko about a technical point around a pass he had been trying to find the striker with during injury time.

Fernandes then shook hands with opposing players and the officials and was heading off to find more opponents to greet when he realised he had forgotten to collect the match ball, his hat-trick reward.

He swiftly turned, asked, and referee Craig Pawson handed it over.

Without his contribution, Manchester United may well not have won this game - but then, you could have said that about a lot of games over the past couple of years.