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Manchester United are “over the moon” with the progress of Álvaro Fernández on loan according to Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe.
The young Spaniard has made 28 appearances for the Championship club since making the temporary move in the summer.
After spending a brief spell out of the team, Fernández has returned to the starting XI in the last two games in which Preston drew with Luton and Hull City.
Impressive on his return to the side, the left-back earned the highest rating in both LancsLive matches.
Vs Luton “7 – Forward from the start and brought more dynamism to the performance. He provided more threat and made a key block to keep Clark out in the first half. He played a different role after the red card, which was good to see.
Vs Hull City “7 – Quiet in the first half, but grew in the game and dribbled past defenders more in the second. He was on his feet at the end, but he stuck to his task defensively.
Preston’s manager, Ryan Lowe, has also grown fond of the 19-year-old’s jokes: “My Spanish is improving anyway, because he can’t understand scouse. But look, Álvaro is a good player, isn’t he?
After a red card for Ben Whiteman against Luton, Fernández was pushed into a central midfielder role for the remainder of the match and took it like a duck to water.
Lowe said after that game “when we moved him inside, he was getting the ball down the left, coming in and causing them real problems. I thought he gave them trouble in the first half, with the ball he put in, just outside Troy. It has been a great jump to catch the ball and that is what he has achieved. He has been excellent when he has played and his attitude and application have to remain the same, to continue performing at that level”.
Featured regularly throughout the season, the loan spell is impressing United according to Lowe, who added “in terms of the games he’s played for us and the minutes he’s played for us, I know Man United are absolutely delighted.” .
However, Lowe is keen to keep the youngster down-to-earth and is happy with the battle between Fernandez and fellow United academy graduate Robbie Brady for the left-back role.
“Because he is a good player, but he is still young, naive and we still have to tell him tactically what to do and what not to do. Even at the end, he questions whether he should jump or not. His awareness, in defense, has improved a lot and it is a learning process for Álvaro. When he plays and performs like he can, he’s a very good player. The rotation that we have, with him and Robbie, we have a young man who can be up front and then a little bit more defensive and offensive experience. So it’s a good fight between the two and we think either one of them can do the job required if he gets picked.”
