Bruno Fernandes Picture Credit: Twitter
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has opened up about choosing number eight as his jersey number for the 2022-23 season. For the previous two seasons, Fernandes was sporting the number 18 jersey. But now the Portuguese midfielder is set to take number eight which was previously donned by Juan Mata.
Bruno Fernandes talked about how his father had the number eight jersey in his playing days but had to quit football for supporting his family. “That shirt means a lot [to me],” he said to the club’s website. “There is a history behind that [number] because my father when he used to be a player, he was playing with a number eight.
“He quit from football because he had an offer from work, and obviously at that time for me and my brothers and for all the family it was better that he had proper work than [to] keep playing football,” Bruno Fernandes added.
“[The number eight] is the number he was using for two years,” he continued. “Because it was also his dream [to be a footballer], it makes my dream a little bit of him. In the same interview, Bruno also talked about his ‘BF8’ tattoo which is dedicated to his parents. He said, “The B is the last name of my mum, Borges, and the F is the last name of my father, Bruno Fernandes.”
“The eighth is the day of my birthday! So this number eight says a lot about me, says a lot about my family, says a lot about my past and that's why I like to use [it]. And that's why it's my preferred number,” Bruno Fernandes explained.
Bruno Fernandes also signed a new deal with Red Devils and expressed how excited he is to play for Manchester United this season. Bruno said, “Obviously, I’m really happy, it’s been pretty good, the time that I’ve spent with the club and, as I said on the first day, it was a dream come true and it still is a dream. This will be a dream for me until my last day in the club. So I’m happy that my last day is longer, I have more time to be in the club, to enjoy it and to keep dreaming.”