Bruno Fernandes has revealed it was the advice from a coach at old club Sampdoria that helped him perfect his penalty kick technique.
The Manchester United star has a near-perfect record from the spot since arriving at Old Trafford in January 2020, converting 21 of 22 spot kicks with Newcastle United’s Karl Darlow the only man to deny him since joining the club.
Fernandes boasts a 93 per cent conversation rate from 12 yards, a stat helped by a technique he picked up in Italy, where he spent the first five years of his professional career.
The Portugal international told MOTDx: ‘I usually shoot in a different way but when I was at Sampdoria, there was one coach who came to me and said to me at the time: ‘You should try this!’
‘Because in the past, there was some player who was playing for Sampdoria who would normally do that jump.
‘I started training with that and it comes to be the best way to take the penalty.’
It remains to be seen whether Fernandes will retain spot kick duty now that Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to the club.
The 36-year-old has a poorer conversation rate than his countryman – missing from 12 yards against the Republic of Ireland during the international break – but former United striker Dimitar Berbatov believes the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be given the responsibility once again.
‘It’s going to change, Bruno [Fernandes] taking the set pieces is not going to happen,’ Berbatov told Metro.co.uk.
‘In football there is a hierarchy in every club, you know it as a football player. When someone like Ronaldo comes, when someone is your captain for your country, someone who is one of the best in the history of football.
‘You will show respect and whether you like it or not he’s going to take the penalties and the free kicks unless the guys have a conversation.
‘When you’re 25 you see football differently. When you’re 36 you see it another way. So they will talk and find a solution.’
MORE : Dimitar Berbatov answers the five biggest questions surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man Utd return
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