Why I stayed at 'struggling' Man Utd and didn't think we'd be third now - Fernandes

Why I stayed at 'struggling' Man Utd and didn't think we'd be third now - FernandesTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, 'Staying this long at Man Utd isn't for everyone' - FernandesBySimon StoneManchester United reporterPublished24 April 2026, 18:00 BSTUpdated 4 minutes agoWayne Rooney never played alongside Bruno Fernandes.They faced each other once - and both remember the FA Cup tie between Derby County and Manchester United at Pride Park in March 2020. The visitors won 3-0, with Rooney denied a memorable goal against his former club when Sergio Romero saved a free-kick its taker was sure was going in.Rooney and Fernandes are two men with so much in common.Manchester United captains, talismen and inspirations; both eager that the club continues to climb out of the doldrums and reconnect with a glorious past Rooney was part of before Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.But there is more that connects them. One evening in June 2004 for starters. Rooney - the teenage golden boy of the England team. Fernandes - a nine-year-old football obsessive from northern Portugal watching the Euro 2004 quarter-final being played 170 miles away in Lisbon.England were leading and in control until Rooney broke his foot. Portugal won on penalties. One day, one moment, elation and devastation revisited when the pair met at United's Carrington training ground - a place both know so well."That was my first memory of the Portugal team playing," said Fernandes."I shouldn't say this, but when England lost on penalties, I was in my grandma's house with my cousins. We ran outside in the streets screaming.""I was in hospital," Rooney replied. "In a Portuguese hospital, still in my England kit, watching on a little TV."The mutual respect between Rooney and Fernandes is clear during a 40-minute chat for The Wayne Rooney Show.The two men...