Early signs suggest Manchester United and Fernandes are the perfect match

It may have only been four matches, but the early promise is that Bruno Fernandes will be well worth the lengthy transfer saga. The Portuguese midfielder finally completed his protracted move to Old Trafford last month having been heavily linked with a switch to Manchester United last summer, only for the transfer to fail to materialise. 

So when the move seemed dead and buried in January, United fans were left ruing another lengthy negotiation process with nothing to show for their efforts. Eventually when the Premier League side announced a deal was in place towards the end of the transfer window, supporters were understandably beaming with excitement at the prospect of Fernandes finally lining up in a United shirt. 

It may have been a long time coming, but Fernandes looks to be just the player required for United to fire them back to the Champions League. Victory over Watford on Sunday, coupled with Tottenham's 2-1 loss at Chelsea and Sheffield United's 1-1 draw with Brighton, meant United ended the weekend just three points off the Blues in fifth. They largely have Fernandes, and VAR, to thank for the three points against the Hornets. 

The 25-year-old earned a WhoScored rating of 9.18 at Old Trafford on Sunday, that the best rated performance by a United player in a Premier League match this season. He'd been at the club just 24 days by that point, which speaks volumes about the quality of individual performances by the club this term. It was exactly the sort of display fans expected from a player who cost United almost £50m to acquire from Sporting CP with a goal and assist meaning he has had a direct hand in three goals across his four league and European appearances. It ranks eighth of all United players this season, a metric led by the injured Marcus Rashford (19). 

And while it may be a small sample size, Fernandes is United's highest rated player in the Premier League with a WhoScored rating of 8.01. But has there been any real change in United's approach with Fernandes in the XI in both the league and Europa League? Well, United's WhoScored rating has risen from 6.78 to 7.02, which is to be expected given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are unbeaten in the four games the Portugal international has started, a run that includes a victory at Chelsea to go with the aforementioned win over Watford. 

Yet United are still mustering the same number of goals per game (1.5) with Fernandes as they were prior to his first appearance for the club, this despite the number of key passes per game rising from 10.5 to 11 and the number shots per game increasing from 14.5 to 15.5. What is interesting, however, is that the number of tackles per game is up from 14.4 to 18.5, as is the number of successful final third passes per game, that rising from 122.9 to 129.5. 

Again with a small sample size, but Fernandes ranks fourth of all United players for tackles per game (2), even with his three league starts coming in the number 10 role. Given the creative players in the final third are now expected to offer more out of possession than in previous years, Fernandes' work off the ball offers a further dimension to United's attack. 

They may still see the ball relatively as much with him as they did prior to his arrival, with that possession return dropping a tad from 56.7% to 55%, but their total number of passes per game has increased notably from 532.9 to 565 without compromising United's pass success rate. Fernandes' 63 passes per league game ranks third of all United players this season, so it's perhaps feasible to suggest that he has injected a touch of urgency to this team in attack, which is only a good thing considering how ponderous United have been in possession at times this season. 

A statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'counter attacks' suits Fernandes' game, then, with United boasting the personnel to break forward at speed where required. Indeed, when Rashford is back fit and firing on all cylinders, a potential front four of the England international, compatriot Mason Greenwood, Frenchman Anthony Martial and Fernandes is enough to whet the appetite of any United supporter. 

The approach play may have remained relatively similar, but at long last, Solskjaer has a top class player capable of unlocking defences to call upon rather than being forced to use Andreas Pereira, who isn't United quality, or the out-of-form Jesse Lingard in such a pivotal position on the pitch. It's early days for Fernandes at United, yet everything that has been seen of the Portugal international has been positive and it could be that he is the required final piece of the attacking jigsaw, which will become all the more evident when Rashford is back from injury. 

Crucially, for Solskjaer at least, is that he hasn't needed to tinker his gameplan too much to accomodate Fernandes, whose start to life in Manchester saw the United boss on Wednesday admit about the January arrival that he "plays with a swagger [and] sees 2 seconds ahead [of other footballers]." It's this rapid train of thought that saw his stock rapidly rise in the first place.

While supporters may wish to see a more expansive style of play at Old Trafford, Fernandes is a crucial addition that'll result in a more free flowing United outfit that'll be all the more potent going forward when Rashford is available. Until then, however, supporters will have to make do with Fernandes pulling the strings in the final third in what has proven to be a fine capture that has all the potential of living up to expectations in England.