Arsenal legend labels Bruno Fernandes as ‘poisonous’ in the dressing room as he warns Manchester United captain about decision

Ian Wright believes Bruno Fernandes will look back on his decision to stay at Manchester United and feel he should have left, with the Arsenal legend now calling the captain a ‘nightmare’ in the dressing room.

The comments come after a fortnight of open dissent at Old Trafford. Fernandes questioned Michael Carrick’s tactics after the 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como and was left out of the starting XI for the 3-0 defeat at home against Bournemouth, which left Manchester United 16th in the Premier League.

Wright has spent two years defending Fernandes, most memorably in a heated on-air row with Roy Keane over whether his standards justified the arm waving and complaining on the pitch. However, Wright has changed his tune on the United captain now.

Speaking on The Overlap, he said:

“I backed him because of what he had achieved up to that point. He’s dragged that team, done a lot of work himself and is probably frustrated now. He’s given his best years to United and there’s no way he won’t be thinking he should have left.

“It’s not even a case of where [he could have gone], he will be thinking, ‘I could have done this, I could have done that’.

Wright also feels that Fernandes has become ‘poisonous’ in the dressing room, accusing the Portuguese midfielder of loading the gun for Lisandro Martinez to publicly hit out at Manchester United’s hierarchy. He added:

“The fact is, I thought he would have changed his attitude and the way he is and he wouldn’t be poisonous in the dressing room. But I genuinely believe he was the one loading the gun for Martinez and then the way that he came out afterwards and threw Michael under the bus, you see that he must be a nightmare in that dressing room.”

Fernandes was linked with a move to Al-Hilal, with the club reportedly open to selling him, before his remarkable turnaround under Carrick last season.

With Chelsea, Roma and Aston Villa to come, Manchester United’s fixtures offer little respite

Carrick remains in charge for Saturday’s trip to face Chelsea in the Premier League, with reports claiming that he has been given at least one more game to turn things around.

There is little breathing space in the Red Devils’ schedule. Manchester United host Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford on November 8, travel to Liverpool on November 22 and host Brentford six days later.

British media have linked former Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and ex-Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann with Carrick’s job in recent weeks. Whether Fernandes is restored to the XI at Stamford Bridge will say plenty about how much trust remains between captain and manager.

Edited by Nived Zenith