Paul Pogba has said Bruno Fernandes would be a perennial Ballon d’Or contender if he played for a club winning major trophies, insisting the Manchester United captain is being routinely overlooked despite producing numbers that compare to the best midfielders in the world.
The 33-year-old, now at Monaco, made the comments in an interview with former United defender Rio Ferdinand, drawing parallels between Fernandes’ situation and his own struggles to earn the recognition he felt he deserved during six years at Old Trafford.
“I mean, I’m not comparing, but can Bruno Fernandes do more than he does now at United?” Pogba said.
“Do you think Bruno, if he’s in another team, he’s not in the top three Ballon d’Or players? For me, you put him in City, he’s in the Ballon d’Or three. With the stats this season, the way he plays and everything, but when you don’t win, we don’t think about you. It’s like that, this is football.”
Fernandes is currently enjoying one of the finest individual campaigns of his career. He has registered eight goals and 18 assists in the Premier League this season – just two shy of the all-time record – as United sit third in the table.
‘Football players will understand this guy is a top player’
Pogba was very open in his assessment of Fernandes’ overall quality, measuring him against some of the most decorated midfielders of the modern era.
“He’s not physically the same as me, he cannot jump and recover the ball like I would do, but he can do everything. Like I said, Bruno Fernandes, in other big clubs, is in the top three Ballon d’Or.
“We talk about Kevin De Bruyne. We talk about [Luka] Modric, talk about [Mesut] Ozil. Talk about stats, stats. He scored more than [Frank] Lampard in the season, as the same position, eight, 10, you know. He does more assists. He’s everywhere on the pitch. He has a volume. He keeps running. He’s smart. He can play two touches, one touch. He can shoot.
“They need to find somebody [to criticise], he’s at United. They need to find somebody. But football lovers will always respect Bruno Fernandes. If you like his style, the way he plays or not, this is different opinions. But football players, they will understand that this guy is a top player.”
Fernandes has 139 Premier League goal involvements in 225 appearances for the club since joining in 2020, but has only an FA Cup and a Carabao Cup to show for it in terms of silverware.
Pogba reflected on his own experience of the same dynamic, having won just two trophies across his second stint at United between 2016 and 2022.
“We had a great team. Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] came, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan also, you know, we had a really good team. But in one team, you have 11 players, you know, and I’m sure that I should have done more, but I don’t know if I could have done more.”
Pogba’s message to Mainoo: ‘I want to see this kid play’
Pogba also spoke about Kobbie Mainoo, who struggled for minutes under Ruben Amorim before flourishing since Michael Carrick’s appointment.
He said the key for Mainoo is finding a manager who genuinely trusts him, drawing on his own experience of leaving United at 19 due to a lack of opportunities.
“He played and he’s such a talented, such a talented kid. He’s still young. It’s difficult. It’s really difficult. It’s the way how he feels. If he feels that, if he’s good with the manager, if the manager really trusts him, because he’s going to have all the clubs behind him, this is for sure.
“Maybe it’s not the right decision [if he thinks he should leave]. And it’s really hard for me to say he should leave when he’s so loved by the people at United. He’s such a great player, a big potential and he can do a great career at Manchester United also.
“So, I don’t know, but I just wish him the best. I don’t know, whatever decision he’s going to take. I just want to see this kid play because it’s enjoyable to see him play.”
