Aaron Wan-Bissaka says his ongoing development at Manchester United is being moulded by Bruno Fernandes with the Portuguese playmaker always on hand to offer words of advice.
The talismanic midfielder at Old Trafford does not yet have the captain’s armband but he has become a leader in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ranks.
Promising right-back Wan-Bissaka told United Review: “Bruno helps everyone – on and off the pitch. He tells me before the game what he thinks I should do and which positions he thinks I should get into when he gets the ball, and where I should be. He has done it with the other players, and I can see that, along with the impact that he has made.
“When I scored my goal [against Newcastle], he said he couldn’t believe I could shoot! That goal there was to show him!”
Wan-Bissaka still has plenty of potential to unlock in his game, having only burst onto the scene at Crystal Palace in 2018-19, but he claims to no longer feel like a youngster at 23 years of age.
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He added: “Yeah – in football now, it might be a few more years before I hit my peak, but once you turn 23, you’re not young anymore. That title ‘young’ has left me now!”
The challenge now is for Wan-Bissaka to become an established senior star at United, with silverware considered to be vital in any progress made at Old Trafford.
Asked about his hopes for 2021, Wan-Bissaka said: “Just for the team to finish as high as we possibly can in the table and, hopefully, bring a few trophies back to the club. The match against Watford coming up is another [FA] Cup game and it’s certainly a competition we want to go far in.
“I think we’ve just had a turnaround since the slow start to the season. You can see the position we are in now, how things have changed. The results have been coming good and I hope it can continue.”
United have moved level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table and have a derby date with Manchester City on Wednesday in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.