Bruno Fernandes is a brilliant footballer. Is he destined to be a coach too?

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Is he destined to be a coach too?Fernandes is often a coaching voice at Carrington and on the pitch Craig Foy - SNS Group/Getty Images Share full articleIt was in one of the final training sessions before Portugal faced Armenia during the last international break when Bruno Fernandes was working on his free kicks at the end of the morning. Fernandes knew, with Cristiano Ronaldo suspended for their last World Cup qualifier after a red card against Republic of Ireland, that he may be needed on set pieces. But the Manchester United captain called over Joao Neves, the 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, to practise with him and the pair took free kicks using a Trackman device to assess their stats. Fernandes told Neves a player of his ability should be adding free kicks to his repertoire and challenged him if he could score the next one, he’d let him take one in the following day’s game. Neves duly obliged on the training pitch and then, 24 hours later, would score a stunning free kick as part of a wonderful hat-trick in the 9-1 rout of Armenia, which rubber-stamped Portugal’s place at this summer’s World Cup. Have you seen a better hat-trick than this from João Neves? 🤯#WCQ | @selecaoportugal pic.twitter.com/BNUhoOpuvV — UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) November 18, 2025 To most, that is just a senior player doing his job of helping a younger team-mate out but, to others, it is another sign of a hugely talented player who has a gift of guiding footballers and spotting a talent the player should unlock — something many believe will help turn Fernandes into a leading coach or manager one day. Fernandes has already undergone his UEFA B diploma through United, which he undertook with Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic. “We have got players that are going to be managers, Bruno Fernandes is one, Bernardo Silva is another,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez told The Overlap last month. “It’s intelligence — football intelligence.” The Athletic has spoken to numerous people, granting them anonymity to speak freely, to find out more about the prospect of the Portuguese and United midfielder one day becoming a head coach. Aged 31 and captain of United, Fernandes is primarily focused on achieving his ambitions on the field, but those who know him say he is a football obsessive and people who work with him each day can see the skills and qualities in him that make them certain he will be involved in football well beyond the day he hangs up his boots. Followers of United have been getting a glimpse of Fernandes’ coaching this season, especially with his on-field work with Benjamin Sesko. Early last month, in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, there were two occasions in the first half when Fernandes coached Sesko on the pitch about his runs off the ball. The first time he told him to get in front of his man at the near post for the cross, the other was about a run he felt the 22-year-old Slovenian forward should have been making beyond the defence. Fernandes has always been expressive on the field and at times appears frustrated, waving his arms around, and he has been criticised for these mannerisms by former United players who now work as pundits. But those who work with him simply say this is his way of showing what he wants from a team-mate and helping them to improve. “I’ve also been like that since I was seven years old,” Fernandes said in 2023. “I don’t want to lose my game — I am really competitive and want to push and give the best of myself. And I demand the others to give the best of themselves. “If I see someone on the pitch and I’m trying to say something to them, it’s because I believe they can do better. Sometimes I can even be giving credit to them. “You see the waving of the arms, but that doesn’t mean that you’re moaning at someone. It’s sometimes the way you can express yourself on the pitch.” The result came in the second half, when Fernandes delivered a cross and Sesko got in front of his man to head United into the lead. A similar thing happened in a January 2-2 draw with Burnley, as Fernandes appeared agitated by Sesko, but those who know him say he was coaxing the forward to make certain runs. The result was the Portuguese finding him with a clever pass for the first United goal of the night at Turf Moor. His shows of frustration have led to him being characterised by some as being petulant, with former United captain Roy Keane previously saying Fernandes is “not captain material”. But those who work with him at United and Portugal say it shows his drive for others around him to be better if they are not doing either what he or the manager has instructed them to do. Those on-field histrionics may appear from afar like someone who could be difficult for younger players to approach and speak to, but he is described by one person as “incredibly humble” when speaking to team-mates. His approach at Carrington appears to support that. With Portugal, he first took Neves under his wing when the midfielder was at Benfica and joined the international setup in 2023, while at United, if an academy player is stepping up to first-team training then Fernandes makes it his business to walk out for the session with them. At the end of sessions, players are often offered the chance to work on their shooting with Travis Binnion, one of Michael Carrick’s coaching staff. The younger players always feel obliged to impress the first-team coaching staff and Fernandes will always be there, too. Even if he can’t take part, he wants to help and watch. United teenage prospect James Overy is another who has got free-kick assistance from Fernandes. The 18-year-old spoke to Football 360 in Australia last month about how the United midfielder spent an hour with him on the training pitch. “I think last time I was with him, I was just taking free kicks because one of our free kick takers was injured, so I was thinking, ‘If we get a free kick, I’m gonna take this’,” he said. “So I’m just taking free kicks and he just comes over and… (for) basically like an hour, he’s just there like teaching me techniques. “He’s like, ‘I do this, I aim for this man, like dip it or hit it there’. I just look up to him so much.” When on recovery days — or on the very rare occasion he is injured — and his training is limited to the gym, Fernandes still comes out to watch the session on the grass. Again, he sees it as a captain’s duty, but he is also open to giving advice. Around Carrington, he will often stop young players in the corridor for a chat and to ask how they’re progressing. He also contacts players while they’re out on loan, asking them for updates on how they’re getting on and ensuring they still feel involved in what is going on at United. His own experience of reaching United, and the route he had to take, gives him more experience than others, too. Fernandes, a youth player with Boavista, went to Italy to play in Serie B with Novara before stints at Udinese and Sampdoria in Italy’s top tier before joining Sporting CP back in his homeland and then on to United in 2020. Of course, his ability as a footballer and his football intelligence earmark him for a career in coaching, too. One person describes Fernandes as having a “bird’s-eye view” and “ability to constantly read the game, where the space is on the pitch to exploit”. His quick thinking can be seen often in set-piece situations. In United’s game with Palace at Selhurst Park this season, Fernandes found Joshua Zirkzee from a dead ball for the first goal before he implored Mason Mount to shoot after rolling a free kick to him. But when a planned routine goes wrong, he can improvise. That happened in Portugal’s win over Spain in the Nations League final in June, after hours of careful preparation alongside assistant coach and set-piece specialist, Austin MacPhee. When he noticed Vitinha was going to struggle to make the block to allow him to play a low pass to Nuno Mendes, he quickly opted for a chip that created a glorious chance that could have won the game without the need for penalties. That intelligence is helped by being a football obsessive. One person says Fernandes “will watch any football he can find anywhere in the world” and he spends his time on team coaches tuned into games — whether they be underage Portugal matches, league games from abroad or Premier League blockbusters. If he’s not got a game on in the club’s training ground canteen, you might find him on the balcony looking out at an under-14s match on one of the many pitches at Carrington. Back when United faced Everton at Old Trafford in November, Fernandes was so engrossed in Portugal’s Under-17s World Cup semi-final against Brazil on his phone that he was delaying a pre-match interview. The game had gone to penalties. Maybe because he knew the interview was with his international coach Martinez, who was working that night as a Sky Sports pundit, he knew he could get away with it. While his focus is on playing and still having big ambitions left to achieve, Fernandes is smart enough to plan for the future, taking that UEFA B diploma, while he’s always interested in how current team-mates and coaches are progressing with their education. The next step will be the UEFA A licence, but that takes a lot more time — 180 hours of education in total, around 40 of which is in a practical setting. For now, his coaching will remain in those moments like that one with Sesko during games in the hope of helping lead Carrick’s United side in their pursuit of Champions League football. He may be the manager’s coach on the pitch, but one day he may be the man in the dugout. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms