Bruno Fernandes ‘honoured’ by Eric Cantona comparison ahead of Europa League final

The Portuguese midfielder has been likened to the Red Devils legend since arriving at Old Trafford for £47m in 2020

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United via Getty Images)

Bruno Fernandes admits he is “honoured” by comparisons with Manchester United legend Eric Cantona.

The Portuguese admits it is “good pressure” to be likened to the French icon ahead of the Red Devils’ Europa League final against Villarreal on Wednesday.

A win against Unai Emery’s side in Gdansk would represent the club’s first trophy since 2017.

The impact of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s talisman, who arrived from Sporting for £47m in 2020, has been likened to Cantona, with 40 goals in all competitions since arriving at Old Trafford.

And Fernandes has now opened up on his impact with the opportunity to land his first silverware at the club.

“It is an honour to be compared with him because the impact he had was really high and he won many major trophies with the club,” Fernandes told BBC Sport.

“But when you are compared with this kind of big player it means you need to be better every day.

“It makes me work harder to keep in the mind of the people, being compared with him. That, for me, is a good pressure.”

Fernandes has helped United land second place in the Premier League, 12 points behind Manchester City, but despite progress, captain Harry Maguire insists they must improve.

“From last season to this season we’re definitely improving,” Maguire said in an interview on The Overlap YouTube channel.

“We’ve actually been on a good run ourselves and the run City have been on has just been incredible. You have got to give them credit. They broke away with something like 20-odd games on the bounce.

“We dropped some silly points in silly games. We know we can do better in some games and be a bit more ruthless in others and really have great belief in the bigger games that we can go and win that game.

“We’ve got to be winning Premier League titles. Second isn’t good enough, and I’m sure the lads all agree on that.”