Manuel Fernandes is a famous Portuguese footballer who is currently playing as a midfielder in Moscow Lokomotiv. What is interesting about his biography and football career?
Manuel Fernandes is a player of the Moscow Lokomotiv and the Portuguese national team. In Russia, he has already become the champion of the country.
Childhood and adolescence of Manuel Fernandes
The future star of Lokomotiv was born and raised in the Lisbon suburb of Amador. He was born on February 5, 1986. Since birth, Manuel has been fond of playing ball. He constantly disappeared in the yard with his peers and played football. Among them was another famous Portuguese footballer, Luis Nani.
Upon reaching a certain age, Fernandes enrolled in the Academy of Benfica. This club has brought up many worthy footballers. It was in Benfica that he was destined to take the first serious steps in professional football.
Manuel Fernandes football career
Manuel played his first game in the main squad at the age of 17. And in the second match he scored a goal that made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the club. The following season, Fernandes became a base player and helped the club become Portuguese champions for the first time in eleven years. The beginning of a football player's career foreshadowed a great future. But injuries intervened in his life.
In the 2004/2005 season, Manuel almost did not participate, but was only treated. He was diagnosed with a hernia in the groin. Therefore, it was not possible to play a large number of matches. And along with this, self-confidence vanished. Benfica no longer needed his services. And it was decided to send the young player somewhere on loan.
The choice fell on English Portsmouth. Fernandes very rarely appeared on the field and soon returned to Portugal again. The following season, he was again loaned to an English club. This time it was Everton. This period of a football player's career is considered one of the most successful. He scored a lot and provided assists, and Everton even wanted to buy him, but the price was too high. So there was a return to Benfica again.
And in the summer of 2007, Manuela moved to Spanish Valencia for 18 million euros. At the time, it was a lot of money. But the transfer cannot be called successful. For Valencia, Fernandes played only seven games and was seriously injured.
The next stage of the football player's career was a trip to Turkey. In 2010, he first went on loan to Besiktas, and then signed a full contract with the team. In four seasons in Besiktas, Manuel played over a hundred matches and scored thirty goals.
In 2014, Fernandes became interested in Moscow Lokomotiv and joined the club. Over the years, he gradually got used to Russian football and improved his personal statistics. And in the 2017/2018 season, everything came together, and Lokomotiv became the champion. What is the great merit of the Portuguese attacking midfielder. He also won the Russian Cup twice as part of the team.
Fernandes is periodically called up to the Portuguese national team and even played 14 matches with it. But he did not achieve any particular success.
Now Manuel Fernandes is preparing, together with Lokomotiv, to defend the title of the strongest team in Russia and become the champion again. He really likes to live in Russia, and he considers it his second home.
