Manchester United’s Álvaro Fernández has quickly come to life in the Championship and has impressed everyone with his performances for loan club Preston North End.
Despite a brief spell of injuries that has limited the 19-year-old to just two starts in his seven appearances so far, the Spaniard has made the most of his minutes.
Fernandez has already won over the Preston faithful with his own chant which was sung on the Deepdale pitch and supporters even resorted to heckling Preston manager Ryan Lowe for substituting for the youngster in his last appearance against Sheffield United.
The coach was keen to clear things up afterward, as he explained to LancsLive: “What they don’t know is that Álvaro hit his thigh at halftime and was struggling to run towards the end.
“It took me by surprise to be fair, but Álvaro is a 19-year-old boy who had never played championship football or any first-team football before. He’s finding his way too and he’d probably tell you.”
“He meets a boy in [George] Baldock, who has probably made 300 appearances in the Championship. Álvaro was always going to get tired at some point; I thought he was fantastic in the first half and then he kind of died towards the end.”
The winger received a rating of 7 for his performance in the match, the highest among all his teammates.
LancsLive described his performance by saying that he “offered a more dynamic option going down the left and was willing to attack the Blades defence. A couple of loose moments, but he asked questions and seemed positive on the ball. The withdrawal from him was booed”.
Supporters praised the Spaniard, with a user on the PNE-Online forum saying the United loanee “is getting better with every appearance. I think he will have a good career.”
While another said “At Deepdale we need full-backs who believe, who have high positions on the pitch who can change defenses and get behind. That’s why Fernandez needs to start every home game. Whether that means leaving Brady or not.”
Currently, another United academy graduate, Robbie Brady, stands in the way of the youngster getting regular starts.
With the Irish international being one of Preston’s best players, Lowe has a selection dilemma on his hands and many fans believe Brady’s versatility should be used to fit both into the starting XI.
One fan’s suggestion was to move Brady to midfield to accommodate Fernandez saying, “For me, we just have to have Fernandez on the team. However, I wouldn’t want to let Brady down, as he’s obviously a decent quality player at this level. I feel like Fernandez really needs to start with Brady getting in there as one of the guys against Whiteman.”
How Lowe will use the pair in the future remains to be seen, but it seems certain that Fernandez will receive plenty of playing time during his loan as he looks to make an impact on his return to Manchester.
