Man Utd star Bruno Fernandes reveals unlikely mentor for his super-effective penalty technique

Fernandes has played extensively with Cristiano Ronaldo for club and country, revealing in an interview with Inside United, the club's official magazine that the pair will consult each other when it comes to striking the ball from the peanlty spot. But another influence comes from much earlier in his career, revealed to be former Sampdoria colleague Fabio Quagliarella.

Fernandes spent the 2016-17 season playing with Quagliarella, who returned to Sampdoria for a golden sunset to his career after prior spells at Udinese, Napoli, Juventus and Torino. But while they physically strike the ball differently from 12 yards, the United captain explained what he learned from Quagliarella was how to study and interpret the movement of goalkeepers to improve the chance of conversion.

"Many of the penalty-takers, they have a side and they go there. They choose the side before, they go powerful and everything, and they still score. I don't know, this was always something that I learned from [Fabio] Quagliarella, at the time I was in Sampdoria," Fernandes said.

"He was always checking with the goalkeepers, what he should do, the way he kicked and everything because, obviously, he had a quick run-up and a very powerful shot. But he was always trying to understand the movements of the goalkeeper and everything and I got that from him."

With 36 penalties scored - out of 40 attempted - Fernandes is Manchester United's all-time leading goal-scorer from the spot. Ruud van Nistelrooy is next on the list, scoring 28 between 2001 and 2006, while Wayne Rooney is only narrowly behind on 27.

A penalty technique change shouldn't be ruled out from Fernandes in the future. He famously take a short run-up and will often perform a little hop or skip just as he is about to strike the ball to throw the goalkeeper off, but if he feels he is giving away too much of an advantage by repeating that, it's time to switch things up. "When you take so many penalties, you need to change...because the goalkeepers start looking at you, study you and everything so, as they do that, I do the same as them."