Manchester United academy product Alvaro Fernandez, currently on loan at Preston North End, has enjoyed a flying start to life with his temporary employers.
The young Spaniard scooped up a Man-of-the-Match award for his contributions on Wednesday night for Ryan Lowe’s side after a brilliant assist for Preston’s only goal of the match, which ultimately proved to be the winner.
Fernandez brilliantly crossed the ball to set up his teammate Emil Riis, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
And that assist sent United fans into a frenzy on social media. Some excited fans on Twitter branded him the ‘future GOAT‘.
Riis, the goalscorer, speaking after the game, heaped praise on the former Real Madrid youngster.
He said on Fernandez, “Yeah it was easy, I just guided it into the goal, I didn’t need to do much, so it was a great cross and he’s a brilliant player.”
“He just needs to keep going.”
Lowe, his manager, was also full of praise for the player and said, “I said get yourself in the right areas and you’ll find the net because we’ve got good players like Alvaro who can put balls on a plate for you, and he certainly did that tonight, so I’m really pleased.”
Beyond the fantastic assist, the 19-year-old mustered a spirited performance against West Bromwich Albion’s Jed Wallace, not allowing him to make any meaningful impact on the game.
The result helped Preston climb up to 11th in the Championship table.
There was a familiar face sitting in the stands in the form of Roy Keane who was present to witness Fernandez’s exploits.
A familiar face in the crowd at Preston…👀 pic.twitter.com/6ibhvHm30P
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 5, 2022
Keane saw the United prodigy sink another former United star, Steve Bruce. Bruce is currently the manager of the Baggies but is increasingly coming under fire.
West Brom currently have only one win from 12 matches and are only two points from safety. With his assist against West Brom, Fernandez now has three assists in the nine games he has featured for Preston.
