It's time for Bruno Fernandes to leave Man Utd! Red Devils captain has a hero complex that really isn't helping - Ruben Amorim should cash in now to help fund daunting rebuild

Fernandes missed last season's trip to Anfield due to suspension and would have missed Sunday's game after getting sent off for a second time this season in the league against Wolves on Boxing Day and for the third time in all competitions, but for the fact his previous red card against Tottenham was overturned. The Portuguese will have harrowing memories of playing at Liverpool's home, where United were thrashed 4-0 in 2022 and humiliated 7-0 in 2023, with Fernandes being made the scapegoat of the latter.

The Portuguese has vigorously denied Gary Neville's claims that he asked to be substituted during that game but the image of him waving his arms around in despair as United kept on conceding has remained in the minds of many of his critics, such as Graeme Souness. "He just threw the towel in, walking around pointing fingers at his team-mates, shrugging shoulders," the former Liverpool player and manager wrote in the Daily Mail last month.

"His actions at Anfield showed me where his mental toughness was, nowhere. And that's my point, just having ability isn't enough to be a top player, he needs to show mental toughness, discipline and workrate when you're up against it and that's certainly what United are at the moment. You want your captain, your leader, to be setting an example for everyone in that dressing room, that is why you pick him as your captain because he leads by example. What example does he set for Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho, young players all making their way in the game?

"I think he has become a liability for Manchester United. He has undoubted talent and he will be thinking he should be playing for the very best teams out there but he is not and he is showing negativity which will be damaging to those around him - as with the sending-off against Wolves."

Fernandes' gesticulating might wind certain people up but he has other traits that make him an inspirational captain to his team-mates. Take his commitment to playing practically every match and his high pain threshold, which saw him play in last season's FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest with what Ten Hag described as a "serious injury", and against Tottenham the year before, days after he was seen wearing a leg brace in the aftermath of the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton.

"Bruno is a very good example for many other players. He is a real fighter," Ten Hag said last May. "Last year when we played Brighton in the [FA Cup] semi-final, he played with an ankle that was so thick. It was unbelievable. He couldn’t run but he was still on the pitch. He is always available, always delivers and always gives energy to the team."

The captain has also shown leadership off the pitch, such as offering to pay staff's travel and accommodation to the 2024 FA Cup final after Sir Jim Ratcliffe withdrew funding as part of his many cost-cutting measures. But most of all, Fernandes shows leadership by being the team's chief creator. Even in a season as dismal as this one, he has six goals and 10 assists in all competitions. He has contributed to more goals than any other player and he would have far more had his team-mates shown more composure in front of goal.

Fernandes created 99 chances in 2024, making him the most creative player in the Premier League, with Cole Palmer just behind with 97.

Another argument in Fernandes' favour is to simply look at what happens to United on the rare occasions he is unavailable. The captain was suspended for one of the worst results in Ten Hag's first season, when United were beaten 3-0 by Sevilla to exit the Europa League in the quarter-finals.

He missed last season's trip to Crystal Palace with a wrist problem, the first time in his career he had missed a game due to injury. And all hell broke loose, as United were trounced 4-0 in their worst performance of the season, if not of the whole Ten Hag era. Fernandes' importance to Amorim has also been underlined in the last two games. The score was 0-0 when he was sent off early in the second half at Wolves before succumbing to a 2-0 defeat with 10 men.

He was subsequently suspended for the last game at Newcastle, which was one of United's worst first-half displays in the Premier League era. His replacement for the game, Joshua Zirkzee, was ruthlessly hauled off in the first half while the midfield was severely lacking intensity as Casemiro and Christian Eriksen had rings run around them by Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.

United really missed Fernandes' passion against Newcastle and in his absence there was no one else to look to. That should not have been the case with the likes of multiple Champions League winner Casemiro and World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez on the pitch, but neither of them looked up for the fight.

Those two players were probably on Amorim's mind when he said his side were "starving for leaders on the pitch". He added: "If you want to be a top, top team you have to be leaders and we have that in the dressing room. But they have to step up." If United do indeed get dragged into an unthinkable relegation battle as Amorim has warned they might be, then they will desperately need Fernandes to be available, because there is a serious lack of big personalities elsewhere in the squad.

In other words, Fernandes is vital to stop United sliding ever deeper into the abyss in the short term. And yet there is an argument that he is preventing United from making real progress and that it might be in the club's long-term interests to sell him. Fernandes is one of the few players in the squad who could garner a hefty transfer fee to alleviate United's financial problems, which are likely to get even worse as the prospect of qualifying for the Champions League, or indeed any European competition next season, fade further with each defeat.

Fernandes' on-sale value is one of the main reasons why Jamie Carragher believes he should leave United along with Marcus Rashford. "Unlike Rashford, Fernandes has been one of United’s best players during a tough period and would have shone with more quality around him during his Old Trafford career. But he is 30 now and there may be value in offloading him to raise funds," Carragher wrote in the Daily Telegraph. "Amorim may see it differently and believe a few more years of Fernandes alongside shrewd additions will serve the team better. Selling must be a consideration, however, because Fernandes is one of the few players who can attract a significant fee if profitability and sustainability rules are an issue."

Carragher also highlighted Fernandes' habit of taking matters into his own hands, upsetting the team's balance in the process. He added: "I’ve always felt Fernandes is a great talent rather than a great player. He creates a lot of chances but can be very indisciplined with and without the ball. That makes it a lot harder for United to defend as a compact unit as he chases the ball all over the pitch. It looks like great commitment to the supporters but the manager will be tearing his hair out."

Neville made a similar point last January when he criticised Ten Hag for giving Fernandes a licence to do as he pleased. He said: "Ten Hag is giving him the freedom to go there, there, there and that means you can never have a combination or a pattern because you've got your main midfield player everywhere on the pitch. It's almost a bit like 20 years ago where your No.10, you gave them licence to play. That's gone now. You have to fit within a combination and a pattern and system of attacking shape."

And that is where Amorim might have to make a difficult but necessary decision with Fernandes. On one level the manager should love Fernandes as a fellow Portuguese and one of Sporting CP's greatest modern exports. Fernandes certainly embodies the application and professional values which Amorim wants to see across his entire squad, but he does not seem like a natural fit for the coach's system.

Amorim wants his players to function as a unit and to be able to predict each other's movements. As he explained to Neville when he was appointed United boss: "One idea is that when the ball is in one place and we are with the ball, or without the ball, every player has the same idea. Imagine that one guy receives the ball between the lines and he turns, every guy in the team knows what to do and everybody thinks the same. So that's quite simple. One idea is to understand the game in the same way, see the game in the same way, do the things in one way."

Fernandes, though, has always operated as a free spirit, and one who feels that it is his destiny to win matches on his own. His hero complex has saved United on many occasions, but it is not necessarily a sustainable platform upon which to build a winning team. Fernandes does not also naturally fit into Amorim's 3-4-2-1 shape, which relies upon two holding midfielders and two narrow wingers.

The 30-year-old fits best into the latter camp although he does not have the pace to really thrive behind the central striker, as he prefers to operate in a deeper role, particularly as he heads into his final few years at the top of the sport. He told A Bola last year: "I have a little thought in my head that I'm going to end my career further back, because everyone who started there and went to No.10 ended up retreating on the field at the end. It's a position I like, playing deeper, facing the game more. With the ball, it makes my game a lot easier because I have a broader view of the game and it is ideal for what we've talked about with the last pass, which can sometimes come from deeper on the pitch."

There lies the great paradox about Fernandes, who is simultaneously United's best player and their biggest character yet one who does not seem to fit with the coach's ultimate vision for the team. Fernandes signed a bumper new contract in August tying him to the club until 2027 but there is a growing case for a parting of ways.

The Portuguese deserves to be at a stable, ambitious club genuinely competing for the top honours in Europe, not one nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone. United, meanwhile, need to overhaul much of their squad and start all over again. Selling Fernandes could help fund that rebuild and help them reach the stage where they properly function as a team and are not always relying on a superhero to rescue them.