Paul Pogba says Bruno Fernandes would be a Ballon d’Or contender if he was not playing for Manchester United/ Image:X
Paul Pogba has said Bruno Fernandes would be in the Ballon d’Or top three if he played for Manchester City, pointing to Manchester United’s lack of major trophies as the reason his performances are not valued the same way. Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Pogba made the point while reflecting on his own time at United and drawing a direct comparison with Fernandes, who he played alongside for over two years between January 2020 and the summer of 2022.
Pogba’s United spell and why he draws the comparison
Pogba’s view is shaped by his own path at the club. After joining United from Le Havre as a 16-year-old in 2009, he left in 2012 and established himself at Juventus, winning four Serie A titles and reaching a Champions League final. When he returned to Old Trafford in 2016 for £89million, then a world-record fee, the expectation was that he would lead a period of sustained success.That did not follow. In six years, he won the Europa League and League Cup, but faced regular criticism over his overall impact.
Paul Pogba (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Looking back, Pogba pointed to the team context rather than just individual performance. “We had a great team. Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) came, (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan also, you know, we had a really good team,” he said, before adding, “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.”
That same situation is what he sees in Fernandes now.
Fernandes’ output and the Ballon d’Or argument
Fernandes has been United’s most consistent performer since arriving in January 2020, producing numbers that place him among the most productive midfielders in the league. He has been the club’s top goalscorer in each of the past two seasons and recently moved to 18 assists for the current campaign after setting up Matheus Cunha in a 1-0 win over Chelsea. With five games left, he needs three more assists to break the Premier League record for most in a single season. Despite that, Pogba questioned whether there is anything more Fernandes can realistically add at United. “I mean, I’m not comparing, but can Bruno Fernandes do more than he does now at United?” he said. He then linked that directly to how players are judged. “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.”
How Pogba rates Fernandes among top midfielders
Pogba also addressed the criticism Fernandes receives and placed him alongside established names in the same role. “He’s not physically the same as me, he cannot jump and recover the ball like I would do, but he can do everything. He can do everything,” he said. “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, ten, 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.”
Bruno Fernandes could be Ballon d’Or contender if he moves to Man City, suggests Pogba
For Paul Pogba, the issue is not Bruno Fernandes’ level, but how that level is perceived and scrutinized at Manchester United, where high expectations often come with intense criticism from media and fans alike.“They need to find somebody (to criticise), he’s at United. They need to find somebody,” he said, before adding, “But football lovers will always respect Bruno Fernandes… football players, they will understand that this guy is a top player.”
