Juan Mata has joked that Bruno Fernandes was “quite happy” at his departure from Manchester United this summer because he wanted his shirt number.
Mata left United at the end of the month alongside Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani. The 34-year-old midfielder had been at Old Trafford since 2014 and helped the club win the FA Cup, Europa League and the EFL Cup.
The Spaniard contributed 51 goals and 47 assists in 285 matches for United and was an extremely popular player in the dressing room. He received a barrage of well-wishes from team-mates past and present when he announced his exit, but his departure also had another knock-on effect.
Mata had worn the No. 8 shirt at United ever since his arrival from Chelsea back in 2014. He inherited it from Brazilian midfielder Anderson, while Wayne Rooney, Nicky Butt and Paul Ince are some of the recent previous occupants. Fernandes has had his eye on it since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020 and has now got his favourite number .
The Portuguese midfielder had worn No. 18 for the past two seasons, but will wear the number which matches a tattoo on his right forearm from the 2022/23 campaign. The shirt number swapping prompted a bit of banter in the United dressing room, with David de Gea asking his compatriot on Twitter if he had “anything to say” about Fernandes’ joy at getting No. 8.
Replying with a quote-tweet, Mata wrote : “He told me he was sad the day he knew we weren't going to keep playing together... but I think he was quite happy @B_Fernandes8 #Number8” alongside a crying laughing face, a long nose emoji and a shrug.
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Fernandes was born on September 8 in 1994, wears the No. 8 for Portugal, as well as at previous clubs Udinese and Sporting Lisbon. He is committed to United for the near future having signed a lucrative four-year contract back in April.
In another change, United’s new signing, Tyrell Malacia, has been handed No. 12 – a number previously worn by Chris Smalling. Fernandes and Malacia will get a chance to don their new numbers for the first time during United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Singapore.
United have now flown out to Bangkok, where they will take on Liverpool in a high-profile friendly on Tuesday. Most of the United squad have flown out to the Far East, but Cristiano Ronaldo is conspicuous by his absence. While his no-show is officially due to ‘family reasons’, Ronaldo has also made it known he wants to leave United this summer due to a lack of Champions League football and what he sees as a lack of ambition in the transfer window.
