Following the departure of Juan Mata, the no.8 shirt has been passed on to Bruno Fernandes, who was previously playing in no.18.
Speaking to MUTV, Fernandes has explained why he swapped his shirt number.
That shirt means a lot [to me]. 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.
[The number eight] is the number he was using for two years. Because it was also his dream [to be a footballer], it makes my dream a little bit of him.
Fernandes also has a tattoo on his arm which reads ‘BF8’ which he explained the meaning of.
The B is the last name of my mum, Borges, and the F is the last name of my father, Fernandes. The eight 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.
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