Bruno Fernandes: Roy Keane Twisted My Words. They Offered Me £200M, I Said No.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes reveals what happened the night his agent called with the news that United wanted him, how the club is rebuilding its winning culture, what great management and leadership actually looks like, and what really happened with the Roy Keane criticism . Bruno Fernandes is the captain of Manchester United and one of the most driven midfielders of his generation. Since joining in 2020, he has scored 108 goals in 328 appearances, won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award a record 5 times, and equalled the Premier League's all-time single-season assist record with 20 assists this season. He explains: ◼ How his father's parenting style shaped him into the player and person he is today ◼ How growing up playing against boys five years older than him made him fearless ◼ What he said to Harry Maguire the moment he was handed the captain's armband ◼ Why taking risks is one of the most important things he does on a pitch ◼ Why he turned down a reported £200 million offer to leave Manchester United 00:00 Intro 02:09 How Bruno Learned His Winning Mentality From His Father 05:23 Why Bruno Was Already Different at 5 Years Old 08:16 How Francesco Guidolin Helped Shape Bruno’s Career 11:40 What Bruno Really Dreamed About at 18 12:06 Why Tottenham Nearly Signed Bruno 13:45 The Moment Bruno Found Out Manchester United Wanted Him 21:51 How Football Culture Has Changed Inside the Game 32:14 Social Media and Footballers' Interactions 35:12 Why Bruno Believes Every Manager Deserves Backing 36:51 What Actually Makes a Great Football Manager 37:30 How Bruno Treats Players 39:32 What Happens Inside the Dressing Room During Bad Runs 42:43 The Key Change Michael Brought to Manchester United 47:59 Why Bruno Thinks Taking Risks Is Essential 54:06 Ads 54:37 The Position Bruno Loves Playing Most 58:35 Bruno Never Seems to Get Tired 1:00:08 What Being Manchester United Captain Really Means to Bruno 1:03:20 Why This Season Feels Different for Bruno 1:05:16 Bruno Responds to Roy Keane’s Criticism 1:10:09 The Emotional Voicemails Bruno Received From Teammates 1:14:07 Why Being Human Matters More Than Football to Bruno 1:17:56 Ads 1:18:32 Why Bruno Rejected Huge Offers to Leave Manchester United 1:22:09 The Importance of Family For Bruno 1:30:06 What Must Change for United to Compete for Titles Again 1:31:19 Bruno’s Definition of Success Five Years From Now Follow Bruno: Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Bh3r8R7 X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GGhEBj3 Facebook - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/4IPRmSU The Diary Of A CEO: ◼ Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/ ◼ Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook ◼ The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt ◼ The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards: https://linkly.link/2io2A ◼ Get email updates - https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt ◼ Follow Steven - https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Sponsors: LinkedIn Marketing - https://www.linkedin.com/DIARY Bon Charge: https://boncharge.com/DOAC for 20% off Vanta - https://vanta.com/steven

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  In the football career, you go through a lot of ups and downs and a lot of difficult moments. And let's say the ones that suffered the most in the family.

• 0:14Speaker 00

  Fuck you. They see your good moments, your bad moments, your good side, your bad side also. But they always stand by you.

• 0:26Steven Bartlett?

  Your time at Manchester United has been a bit of a roller coaster like this. And so on that day when you get a big offer to leave Manchester United for a contract that was worth reportedly 200 million. Why didn't you go?

• 0:41Steven Bartlett?

  Manchester United's captain, Bruno Fernandes, has arguably become their greatest player in the post Ferguson era. There isn't a single player in the Premier League who has more assists since his arrival. He's won more Club Player of the Year awards than Ronaldo. And only five players have scored more than his 70 league goals. So I'm at the Manchester United training ground to ask him the questions the footballing world wants to know, including. Recently, Roy Keane criticised your mentality based on a quote he claimed you said. How do you respond to that?

• 1:16Speaker 00

  He came criticizing me, killing me, saying that I'm not good enough, that I'm not a good captain, that I'm not a good player for the club. It's okay, I don't mind. What I don't like was when people lie about things. I even asked Ole, his number, to have a word with him.

• 1:28Steven Bartlett?

  Did you speak to him?

• 1:34Steven Bartlett?

  Guys, I've got a favour to ask before this episode begins. The algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed. So when we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know. And the simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button. But also, it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make this show better. And I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app you're listening to this on right now and hit that follow button. Thank you so, so, so much.

• 2:09Steven Bartlett?

  Bruno, to understand somebody, I always think you have to start with where they started and the early context that they grew up in. And we were just talking before we started recording about Porto. I'm on a journey to understand why you are the way that you are, because you're such an anomaly on the pitch. And your career, when I tracked the journey of where you've come from and how you continually were promoted and pushed forward at a very young age. It's clear to me that your early context, your early upbringing, and whatever it was that was present at that age, has shaped you in some very, very important way. What is the sort of earliest thing I need to understand about where you came from and that environment?

• 2:44Speaker 00

  For me, it's all about families, about taking care of other people. And I think to succeed, not just in sports, but in life, you need to be, you need to be very careful of your surroundings. So I think the values of my family, the values of my, of my parents were what make me the person and the player I am today.

• 3:04Steven Bartlett?

  The older I've gotten, I'm now 33, so I think I'm two years older than you. The more I've realised, actually with time, what I learnt from my parents and like the values that my dad in particular gave me. He never, for a lot of the things, it's not something he ever said to me. It's like modelling what he did. So seeing how he behaved.

• 3:21Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:21Steven Bartlett?

  What's that for you?

• 3:22Speaker 00

  It's kind of the same, you know, like my father was never a person to, to show his emotions too much or tell you what to do or how to do it. He would just do it and you would understand by, by, by his behaviour, by the way he does things, that that was his way of showing us how he has to be doing. Was never a person of like hugging, kissing and stuff. He's got now into that, even when I come out of games and stuff, you see like I, I, I always get his hug, I always get his kiss. And this is something that I, as a kid, I knew how much he loved me, but in this small aspect, it was always my mom giving this kind of love.

• 4:03Speaker 00

  He was more in the way of, he was showing how things have to be done, how, how much you have to sacrifice yourself to certain things. My dad was very strong with me in terms of like games. Imagine I could come out of a game, scoring two, three goals or whatsoever. And my parents, my dad in this case, will always pick up the bad moments I had in games to make me understand that wasn't, that wasn't, that was good, but wasn't great. It's always margin to improvement, you know, it's all small things. And I think I've learnt such, from such a young age to deal with criticism, that I'm now in probably in one of the biggest clubs in terms of like carrying criticism and attention, that doesn't hurt me.

• 4:46Speaker 00

  Like, I don't like it, obviously no one likes to get criticised, but it doesn't hurt me. It doesn't change the way I behave, it doesn't, it doesn't change the way I want to do things. But from the other side, it makes me understand there is still things to improve. And I listen to that and I, I, I look at my game and I see if it's needed of changing, of improvement in my game. And my dad was always very strong in that with me. And I see nowadays the parents, you know, my dad never wanted me to be a footballer. He wanted me to become a better person, a better player or a better student. Everything I wanted, I wanted to do, he just wanted me to do it at like 100%. You need, you want to do this, you have to do the best you can.

• 5:29Speaker 00

  You can't just be happy with, you go to a test and let's say in Portugal was from 0 to 100% and you have 98 and you'll be the most happiest person in the world. No, you can be happy because that result is amazing, but you left 2% then that you still can improve. So you're always, always showing me that even if it was just a small thing or a small detail, you still have something more to do. You still have something more that you can improve or become better. And that's something that has stuck with me, not just in football, but in life. I don't like to do things 50%, 60, 70 or 80. Whenever I'm included in something, I want, I want to go full, I want to learn as much as I can. I want to be the best version I can in that aspect, whatever it is.

• 6:11Steven Bartlett?

  I mean, it's, it's really interesting because I, I wondered to myself how, I think you started playing football at five years old.

• 6:18Speaker 00

  Yeah, five.

• 6:19Steven Bartlett?

  And were you good from five years old? Were you different from your peers at a young age?

• 6:24Speaker 00

  In such a young age, I never think about being a footballer. I just wanted to play football for life. I'm just happy playing football. I just want to have this ball in my feet every time, all the time.

• 6:34Steven Bartlett?

  And you joined FC Infesta?

• 6:37Speaker 00

  Yeah, that was my first club.

• 6:38Steven Bartlett?

  At five years old, I mean, I've got some photos of you as a young man here. I've got so many photos here. You must be roughly around that age then. And remarkably, I read that after one training session, they moved you into the older group. And you played with people two years older than you when you were, what, five years old?

• 6:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, I was five playing with the seven years old.

• 6:59Steven Bartlett?

  Why did they move you into a different group?

• 7:01Speaker 00

  I went for the first session and it was a footsaw session, five aside, but like an indoor thing.

• 7:08Speaker 00

  And after that first session, they told me that like, no, you need to get on the grass. And then I think it comes just, you know, I looked at the other players and at other, other people that were training with me. And I didn't want to be better than them. I just wanted to like, getting at them was the same as getting at my brother that was five years older than me. For me, it was no different. If I have to beat him up, I will beat him up, you know, like one V one, I'm going to go past him. I have to tackle, I'm going to tackle him. He's going to tackle me stronger, doesn't matter, I tackle him again. And, and I was, I had no fear. And I think that was the thing that made me become better and better, because I was never the best. Like technical ability, yes, I was good, was the best, no. Speed, was I quick? Yeah, I was quite the quick, was the quickest, no.

• 7:53Speaker 00

  I was the strongest, no. I was the tallest, no. But I had no fear of anything of that. I had to sprint with someone that was quicker than me, I'm going to sprint with him and I'm going, I might not beat him, but I'm going to get close to that.

• 8:03Steven Bartlett?

  I actually read that you were so aggressive that referees sometimes asked your coach at Infesta, Sergio, to sub you off, otherwise they'd have to send you off.

• 8:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:15Steven Bartlett?

  I mean, that kind of correlates with what you were saying there about fear.

• 8:18Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:18Steven Bartlett?

  You were aggressive.

• 8:19Speaker 00

  I was, that's what I mean, like I had, I had no fear, you know, like I, I wouldn't look at faces or sizes whatsoever and think like, oh, oh, it's bigger than me, you know, like it's gonna, it's gonna be stronger than me also. I would get into any, any, any ball in any moment in, in the game with, with no fear at all. And this is probably the best times in my career between Infesta and Buah Vista, because this one is Infesta, this one is at Buah Vista. When I've just, I stayed probably a year at Infesta and Buah Vista got me straight away.

• 8:50Steven Bartlett?

  And you moved quickly up and up and up and up. And that was one of the remarkable things I'd noticed when I looked at you starting playing at five years old, getting promoted to an older team. And then quickly, almost in all the clubs, you know, I'm looking at when you were 17 years old and you left Portugal and moved to Italy to join Navara.

• 9:07Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:08Steven Bartlett?

  And after three months there, you were promoted to the first team.

• 9:12Steven Bartlett?

  And but then you very quickly joined Udinese?

• 9:16Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 9:17Steven Bartlett?

  And at Udinese, you met a guy called Francesco, I can't pronounce his surname, but Guidolin?

• 9:21Speaker 00

  Guidolin, yeah.

• 9:23Steven Bartlett?

  He was really, really formative in your career, wasn't he? You were what, 18, 18 years old?

• 9:27Speaker 00

  18 years old, yeah.

• 9:27Steven Bartlett?

  Why was he such an important part of your career? What did he teach you or give you at Udinese?

• 9:33Speaker 00

  He was the manager that probably gave me the basis and the foundation to be fearless and express myself, you know, like to get my head out of so many things that were going on. And as a young kid that has just made the step into the Serie A, and he's like, oh, I need to, now is the moment I need to show myself. But he was like, you don't, you, you showed me that you have the qualities when you were in second division in Italy. That's why we bought you. And to be honest, I was on the edge of coming to Watford on loan.

• 10:06Steven Bartlett?

  Watford?

• 10:06Speaker 00

  Yeah, because it's the same owners. And we're getting at the edge of the transfer window. They just bought me and obviously they had a big squad with a lot of players and they were like, we're going to send you to Watford, you're gonna, you're gonna be there playing for them, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, what have I done? Like I wasn't, I wasn't good enough. And then in the same moment, they called me to go to the auto, pack my stuff, because it was like last days, this, pack my stuff. I was with, with my girlfriend, wife now, and she was like, don't worry, we're gonna, we're gonna go anywhere else and you're gonna, you're gonna succeed. And I said, but why can't I make it here? Like what, what was that I did wrong that like the manager is like, not looking at me the same that is looking to other players?

• 10:50Speaker 00

  And in my head was like, have I done something wrong? I've not like showed my full potential, have I not shown that I'm good enough to be in this team? And I don't know why, in the middle of all this thought, the sporting director called me again and says, Bruno, you can't go anymore. The manager wants you to stay. He says he loved you, he loves your attitude, he wants you to learn from him, he wants you to understand how he wants to play and everything. He says, you might not play much this season, but he's pretty sure that you are the type of player that will succeed at this club. And then we had many conversations and I think when you want a manager for young players that very quick will play and will think like, oh, I'm, I'm the guy now.

• 11:32Speaker 00

  He's gonna make you understand, stay calm, I got you, but you're still not there. And he was so good for me, he was like a father figure, you know, like, but not just for me. If you speak with every player that was there at that time, they knew they were important for him, because he always showed that. And that's why he made me so much more complete in terms of understanding the moments and the process that managers have to go through their heads and what they think about players that is better or whatsoever, that you don't understand. Whenever a manager puts you on the bench, you just think, doesn't like me. He's, he's doing this because he makes, he wants to make another one play, whatever. But the way he did it with me and all the players that were around me at that time, we were so happy that their environment was very, very good.

• 12:15Steven Bartlett?

  As a young man, when you're this age, you're 18 years old, what are your dreams? And if I'd asked you at the time, what does your future look like, what would you have said to me?

• 12:24Speaker 00

  As soon as I became a professional player, I was like, I want to be on, on, on the top clubs. I want to play for, for the big clubs, I want to be in the Champions League, I want to, to play for trophies. I want to become the players I'm looking at, I want, I want to become like them.

• 12:38Steven Bartlett?

  Did you think you could?

• 12:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, always. I've never, I never doubt.

• 12:44Steven Bartlett?

  And at 22, you get a call and you return to Portugal and sign a five-year deal with Sporting in a deal worth reportedly 8.5 million. The next season, you scored 20 goals and added 13 assists, which was unheard, unheard of for a player in your position. And what I read as well is that Tottenham were interested in you at that time. And it was, it was at one point highly likely that you were going to end up moving to Tottenham. I'm very glad you didn't as a Man United fan, but tell me about that. So Tottenham call you.

• 13:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, I spoke with Tottenham and we were very close to get an agreement done.

• 13:21Speaker 00

  Then in the last two days or one day of market, the sporting just said, we, we're not going to sell him, we're going to keep him because we need him.

• 13:29Steven Bartlett?

  And you wanted to go to Tottenham?

• 13:31Speaker 00

  Yes, because I wanted to play in the Premier League.

• 13:33Steven Bartlett?

  Why?

• 13:34Speaker 00

  Because for me, it's the best league in the world, it's the most competitive one. It's the one that I think when you grow up, you dream to play for, you know, like full stadiums, top clubs, top players. Obviously, I was, I was lucky enough that my dream club to play in England was Man United. And obviously Tottenham at the time was the option I had. And I was very, very happy to join them because they showed me the process that they were going through, the manager that was there at the time, they also really wanted me. All the new things, the new facilities and everything. So I was very happy with, with everything that I could see going forward. But it didn't happen and for bigger reasons, I guess.

• 14:15Speaker 00

  And then in January, I got, I got the call that I was, I was hoping for, for, for two, three years already.

• 14:23Steven Bartlett?

  Tell me about that call. Because I know Manchester United has, has been, you know, in your eye for a long time. I mean, I know you grew up watching people like Cristiano Ronaldo play for this club. And I think when he, I think when he first played for Portugal, you were, you were a young guy, you were like eight, eight or 10 years old or something. And he had been a great star of Manchester United. But, but I think generally, people of our age group, we grew up in the heyday of Manchester United, the Sir Alex Ferguson era as well. So why Manchester United? And can you zoom me in? If I'm a fly on the wall, when you get that phone call from your agent, I guess, that Manchester United are in, I can see the smile on your face.

• 14:59Speaker 00

  I was, let's say, I was in my work room, I was getting, getting ready to go to bed. We just had to, my wife was just bringing kids, my daughter, at that time I only had my daughter to bed. And I get the call from my agent. I knew things were going on and everything, but after what happened with Tottenham, I didn't want to put my focus on transfer windows. And I, I never did it in every step of my career that I've changed club. I always said to my agent, whenever he's like 95% that the club really wants me and he's ready to make an offer, tell me. And then I decide if it's like the right moment and I want to go. A part of that is I'm like, just keep him apart, keep me apart, I don't want to know it. I don't want like to lose the focus of what I'm doing to something that I can't control.

• 15:43Speaker 00

  And after the Tottenham thing, I was like even more, because obviously I was basically done. And then all of a sudden, last day, Sporting just says like, guys, oh, they text Tottenham and say like, are we not going to make it? So he called me and he said, Bruno, so you told me to not speak to you until we had something like.

• 15:59Steven Bartlett?

  Concrete.

• 15:59Speaker 00

  Concrete. But just so you know, they also have agreement already, everything. So it's just on your side now to say yes or no. And I was like, like yes or no to what? And he said, come on, you've seen the news. I said, my agent calls me, guys, say Miguel, the news are every day different. Every day they're going to put a new club that is interested in me, so I'm not, I'm not going to be focused on that. He said, okay, Man United is coming for you. I know, I know this is like why you want, so just so you know, this is, this is the one that you've been waiting for. So it's on you now to make a decision. And then for like 10, 20 seconds, I didn't, I didn't say anything. I was, I was crying, but I didn't want to talk, because you know, like your voice starts going a little bit chalky.

• 16:43Speaker 00

  And then all of a sudden, my, my wife gets into the work room and she says, I'm still on the call. And she goes like, why are you crying? And like, even on the phone say, are you crying? I was like, just, I turned that off and I was like, Miguel just called me. And then in the moment, I'm trying to explain to my wife what's going on, he's calling me like repetitively, like I need an answer. And I was like, and my wife was like, why are you crying? So like, this is like what you have dreamed for, like this, this is the moment you've been waiting for. And I was like, oh, I don't know, it's, it's just too much. Like I, I've never expected after everything that happened with Tottenham, I would have got the chance to come to the Premier League again.

• 17:22Speaker 00

  And having the chance to come to the Premier League with Man United is, it's, it's like 100% of the dream complete. So obviously then like I just, I just called him back and I said like, I, I don't even want to know anything else, just tell them I'm going. Obviously, I was very good at Sporting and I was very happy there, because I, I really enjoyed my time at Sporting. Because it was when I became probably the best version of, of myself as a player, where I improved so much in that two years and a half. But then was like the dream of playing for the Premier League. And I think from every sporting fan, they really understood that was, was ready for me to, to go and do the next step.

• 18:04Steven Bartlett?

  And when you joined, I mean, here's the famous photo of you signing with Manchester United.

• 18:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:13Steven Bartlett?

  It's funny, the, the smile that you still have on your face when you look at these photos.

• 18:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's, because I think when, when you look back, as I said, like, this is the day your dream comes true. So it's, it's probably professional wise, I think I put this one and Sporting together because of the importance that Sporting had in my career. But obviously, this, this was the cherry on, on top of the cake, because this is where I wanted to be.

• 18:43Steven Bartlett?

  And you joined the club at a time when the club was in a bit of a turmoil, struggling. You know, Sir Alex Ferguson has left, we've cycled through a bunch of managers and we've got Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the manager at that point. I think the club was seventh in the Premier League when you joined. And it was going through a time of turbulence. You knew that Manchester United wasn't the most stable club in the world, but you chose to come here anyway. And based on your record, record at Sporting, you would have had a lot of other opportunities to join a club that was more stable. That was, you know, and it's interesting, because clubs can have a big impact on a player's future. Players can have a big impact on a club, but it also goes the, the other way.

• 19:21Steven Bartlett?

  And as someone that runs businesses, you know, the environment you join has a huge impact on everyone's behaviour, no, no, irrespective of how hard you try. You chose to join a club that was at the time unstable.

• 19:35Speaker 00

  Look, the game I looked before I came here was, I think, Burnley, United-Burnley, and United loses at home 2-1. I don't remember exactly, but I know they've lost that game. And it was just like days before I came. And I was like, I still think there is a lot of potential in that team. And apart of having potential in that team, I'm joining one of the biggest clubs in the world. And I know that clubs go through periods where things don't go the way they want. But sometimes it's not just because they're not great, it's just because other teams are being better than them. And that's fine, because in football, you're not going to win all the time. But the thing you can do is like,

• 20:18Speaker 00

  you can bring your own values, your own experience, your own qualities, and trying to help everyone else around you to become better, to become the team you want to see. And I think at that time, that period of, then we had the Covid time and all the stuff, but that period, from there to the end of the season, the team was unbelievable. And the season after, we got second place. And because we struggled in certain moments of keeping up to the standard of City, that had a very good end of season. But for me, it was like, I wasn't like, I'll fix that. I was like, I'm going to be the magic powder that's going to solve all the

• 20:58Speaker 00

  problems. But I really knew that this club had something special. And for me to join it was like, I can be part of something that is going to become great again. And I still believe that. And obviously, it can take time. It's taking more time than I thought, yes, of course. But at that time, I had too many dreams in my head, and they still are here. And still a lot of things that I want to achieve. But this smile and this guy that came here in 2020 is still the same guy that wants to win and succeed at this club.

• 21:30Steven Bartlett?

  I'm wondering, you know, because there's been so much said about the environment at Manchester United over the years. I know a little bit about the environment when Sir Alex Ferguson was here, because I interviewed a lot of his players. And having been to Carrington before, and actually going to the grounds, and actually sitting in the hospitality lounge, and waitresses coming over to me, and talking about when Sir Alex Ferguson was here, and how he knew everyone's name, and then how it changed. It was really interesting to me to get a lot of this feedback, because it highlighted how small things in culture can have a big impact, right down to the way players play. And there's always this story that Gary Neville told me about with Wendy and her charity balls. He told me a story of the players walking past Wendy, who got the charity ball signed for a local

• 22:12Steven Bartlett?

  charity. And one day, a couple of them didn't sign it. And Sir Alex Ferguson came downstairs, and he, quote, "fucking killed us." And it's a strange thing to do, like, to care that much about a small detail in culture. But over time, Gary told me, he understands why Sir Alex Ferguson cared so much. So my question to you is really about the cultural evolution at this club, and what the fans are desperate to know about, like, how it's changed, and how it feels different from the time you arrived in 2018 up until today.

• 22:41Speaker 00

  I've brought in my behaviour, the way I've been raised, and all these things. And I think every different player has brought different things to the club. But I think one of the things that has to be always there is the respect for people. And I think that says, for me, is a non-negotiable thing. Like, if any player comes to this club, and he doesn't respect the physios, the stewards, the people that are in all the desks we have here, the people that work for us in the restaurants, the chefs, and all these people that are around us, taking care of us, even if you don't see it, or if you don't think it, or whatever it is, for me, is a non-negotiable thing that the respect has to be always there.

• 23:25Speaker 00

  And more than respect, the care. You need to care about them. Because if you have a good foundation, a good base of respect and care in your club, it's going to get better. The environment gets better. Everything is more positive. Because I think, and this is probably the way I've been raised, I treat everyone in the same way. I don't treat the players in a way that I don't treat the clean lady, or the people that are in the front desk, or the people that, the stewards at the entrance, you know. If I say good morning to these ones, I say good morning to these ones. I don't change that. If I give a handshake to these ones, I give a handshake to this one. If I greet them as I'm greeting my teammates, they will feel part of it. They will feel involved. They will feel as important as them, even knowing that the role of them is completely different

• 24:08Speaker 00

  of the other ones. Because the role of a CEO is one thing. But if the cleaner doesn't clean everything nice, and leaves everything prepared, and well done, and everything, you will notice that something is wrong. You will notice that this is not the place where you want to work for. You notice that you don't want to be the CEO of a company that has trash everywhere.

• 24:28Steven Bartlett?

  Yeah.

• 24:29Speaker 00

  And so, why wouldn't you greet the person that takes care of you, takes care of your place, to look so good, and to make an impact when people come in from the outside?

• 24:37Steven Bartlett?

  It reminds me of something, actually, Jonny Ive said. So Jonny Ive is the famous Apple designer that designed all the Apple products that we know and love. And he said, it's very hard to feel care. He goes, but everyone can feel when someone didn't care. You go to a restaurant, and they didn't care. Small things. He goes, it's like, he said, care is just this thing in the background, this ambient feeling you have when you arrive somewhere. But you can't like, point out exactly what it is, but you can feel it.

• 25:05Speaker 00

  That's the thing. I think it's more that you feel it, but you don't see it. And I think, touching this point, I was talking about cleaners. My mum was, she was cleaning houses for work. So I never wanted the people that were cleaning the house to treat my mum badly, or let's say, downgrade the work she's doing for them. Because, for example, now, I have a person that works in my house. I don't allow my kids to talk badly to her. I don't allow my kids to say, grab that, you put it in place. And I said it to her in the first day she came to work, and I said, if something is not in the right place, obviously, I want you to clean. I want you to put things in place. I want all of this. But I don't want my kids to tell you, oh, that, arrange that, or put this in place.

• 25:49Speaker 00

  No. If they want something, they can ask you. But first of all, they need to be respectful. If they can't make it, they have to ask you, but in the respectful way. But if it's something that they can make, you have to make them make it. Not like, oh, you do it. No, just explain them how to do it. Show them the way, so they learn with it. And this probably the way I behave with the people that work with me, it comes a lot because of my background of not liking to see my mum. Because I was not in the houses, obviously. I don't know if they treated well or not. My mum never said to me that any of the people that she worked for were bad to her, or treated her in a bad way. So I really think that that

• 26:30Speaker 00

  made me understand that, because I don't want that for my mum, I won't make that to other people.

• 26:35Steven Bartlett?

  I've been a Man United fan since I was a kid. So like, my siblings were born in Manchester. I was saying to you before, I was born in Botswana or in Africa. But because I've got two older brothers who are Man United fans, I very quickly became a Manchester United fan. I remember like, three, four years old. And then, as soon as I could, when I was 18, I moved up from the South West to Manchester at 18 years old. And I lived here, and went to my first Manchester United games. I've seen the club go on this incredible journey, from, you know, Sir Alex Ferguson's era, to this sort of period of transition to where we are now. And it's my observation, my honest observation, that after, in the post-Fergie era, the club made some bad decisions as it relates to recruitment and culture. People often talk about Edward Wood's, I'm not going to, I'm not going to transit you up in any way, or get you to talk about anything in particular, I'm just expressing

• 27:20Steven Bartlett?

  my opinion. They talk about Edward Wood's strategy towards signing players, and it being a bit flippant. And then you look at the sort of group of lads that we had. And just as a United fan watching on the pitch, I felt the culture was a bit confused, because it didn't seem like it seems now, where it seems like there's this really strong central agreement around the values. It felt a bit, I don't know, a bit like we had signed players because they were famous or big, but not because they fit. And I feel, when I look at the club now, I go, oh, these guys kind of fit. And whoever's doing recruiting is thinking about character. It feels to me like there's been this process over the last couple of years of getting rid of the wrong character profiles. And I think Amarim really

• 28:05Steven Bartlett?

  spoke to this. He really talked about getting rid of the players that didn't have the right character profile. Just to add one more line to this, I've spoken to a lot of players at the club in past and present, and they expressed the same to me as well, that there was an issue with sort of character profile that has now been solved for.

• 28:22Speaker 00

  I think the main mistake that the club has done through the years, that we've changed manager through manager, they were very different. And that's already a bad sign, not of recruitment, because then you bring in players that fit that manager. But the next one you brought plays a completely different way. And the three or four or five that you bought don't fit this one anymore. And then you have to buy another four or five. And then, the constantly change of strategy in the club, or in the way we wanted to play whatsoever, was not, was not the best. Because then, obviously, it becomes that the players don't suit anymore. The system is not even more the character than it comes up, but it's

• 29:04Speaker 00

  more the system. Then obviously, we can talk about character, the players that were, certain players that were not a perfect fit for the club, but you never know it until you bring it to the club. I think sometimes you can see it. And I think it's there players that I think the club, by the behaviour they have on the pitch, or the behaviour they have on social media whatsoever, you can see if they will be a fit for the club or not. And I think the main thing for the club, as you said there, you need to bring good characters. Because that will be more important to build something that good qualities. Because good qualities, they all, they will have. You don't bring a player to Man United that doesn't have qualities. But if you can add the qualities to the character, that's a win-win. Because the qualities will be moments that the quality won't be as good as you want, because players

• 29:48Speaker 00

  go through periods that sometimes they play very good, sometimes they play very bad. But the character remains the same. And that's the character you want, where they are on a low, to be the right character to push himself to be on a high, or at the same time, when they are on the low, to be the right character to push the other ones to be at the top level. And I think that's the main thing that the club has to do in terms of recruitment and everything, is bringing people, first of all, that want to be a Man United, to play for Man United. Not to be a Man United just because it's a big club. They want to be here because this is the club, they think, and they really understand that they want to succeed with this club. They want to bring this club back to the days we were used to see Man United. I know, it's been 12, 13 years, I know. But we want that to get as

• 30:33Speaker 00

  short as possible, to become that club that won 20 Premier League titles and is joined the most in the Premier League. So, character in a football club is more important than the quality. Because the quality, you're always going to get it, and you can improve it.

• 30:47Steven Bartlett?

  This is what I heard from Pritri Severo. I remember him telling me that he met Sir Alex Ferguson in an airport, I think in France. And Sir Alex Ferguson sat him down and said, are you willing to die for Manchester United? And he said, yes. And so he shook his hand. He said, welcome to Manchester United. And that's a different way of recruiting. He's not testing if he can kick a ball well. He's testing if he's got the heart and that mentality that I think Fergie and previous sort of cohorts of Manchester United really, really cared about.

• 31:14Speaker 00

  I think Sir Alex, obviously, he's done mistakes in recruitment too, because obviously not every player was great. But he always brings players, in any time and any moment, they would fit the club. And that's the main thing, I think, in terms of recruitment, that this is like something that is not for me to get involved, but I will say it. I understand the club as different manager comes in, comes in, and different ways of playing whatsoever. But the recruitment has to be for Man United, because the player will get normally a five years contract, and the manager will get two. And you know that if something is not working, the club always gets rid of the manager first, then it gets rid of the player, because it's much more difficult. So I think you always have to bring players that fit the club. And then you bring managers that fit the club,

• 31:59Speaker 00

  and the players you've got. And I think that says to be the thing that, for example, let's talk about Klopp and Pep, why they were so successful. Because they chose the players in togetherness with the club that will fit the club, the system, and the way they wanted to play. And through the years, they've had their mistakes, of course. Have they bought players that didn't work? Yes. I think we're more the ones that worked than the ones that didn't. And the ones that didn't work, I haven't seen many of them coming out and talking bad about the club, or about the manager whatsoever. Yeah, it's difficult to be there, and a club buy you for 50, 60, 70 million, and then you don't play, when you thought, oh, I'm going to play, because they're paying this amount of money for me, I'm going to play. Then you get there, you don't play. Of course, it's difficult. But

• 32:43Speaker 00

  what I've seen is that they built in a way that the squad was strong enough to take care of those players that were not playing and were struggling.

• 32:50Steven Bartlett?

  One of the things I've noticed as a change, especially this season, is all this social media distraction, people posting on their Instagram stories when they don't play, their brother, sister posting, my brother should be playing, whatever. All of this sort of like, social media stuff that some players were doing over the last couple of years seems to have vanished. And this is just an interesting, you know, we talk about small things being interesting signals. It's one of the things I've noticed this year. There isn't social media nonsense going on. How, like, I guess my question is, is that something the club has done? Has there been, have they sat you down and said, stop the social media stuff? Or is it just a consequence of getting the right people together?

• 33:33Speaker 00

  I think it's a little bit both. But at the same time, I think the club has to be the one being strong with the players. When they see something that is not right, or they don't like it, or it's not good on the players, on the team, on the attention this club gets, I think the club needs to talk with them, and with the agents, with the families whatsoever, that speaks out and says something. Because I think it's also on the players to make the families and everyone that is behind them understand that what they put out, or what they say, can have consequences on our careers.

• 34:06Steven Bartlett?

  Do you talk to the players about this?

• 34:08Speaker 00

  If I see something that I don't like, or if I see them posting or replying to some people on social whatsoever. Because, for example, from such a young age, I said to my parents, I said to my brother, I said to my sister, I don't want you talking without my, like, without me knowing it. Not because they don't know how to talk, whatever, but they're not aware what can be bad or wrong. They might think they were going to say something that is going to be good for me, but maybe has repercussions on other people. And I don't want them to do that. So my parents never spoke, my brother never spoke, my sister never spoke when I wasn't playing. Let people make noise, let people talk. Doesn't matter what they say. I know for my mum, for example, she suffers a lot with this. And I say, take

• 34:51Speaker 00

  it in, don't care. Pray at your saints like you do to me all the time, and make sure they do the right thing for me, because that's what matters. And she kind of like, gets okay with that. Obviously, I know that probably when my brother sees something, or my sister, they want to reply to something. They want to say, it's not true, why are you talking about this, my brother, whatever. I don't want them to get involved in that, because it's not going to be good for them, not going to be good for me, and it's not going to be good for my environment. And I don't want that. But I think that is because I was strong with my family in the first moment. And I think that's who you have to be. I don't go home to my family and saying like, oh, you know, this manager this, this manager that. I might say what I like, or I don't like, whatever, but I don't go in a way of

• 35:34Speaker 00

  like, oh, if I had someone that could put something out, because I've been doing this. I don't care, like, to people to put out, oh, Bruno is training so well, Bruno is doing this, Bruno is doing that. I know I'm doing it. That's enough for me.

• 35:48Steven Bartlett?

  And it's true, because, you know, you've been through this process of transition with Oli, then Carrick, then Raph, then Eric, then Ruben, then Fletcher, then Carrick again. And actually, one of the remarkable things is I've never noticed your attitude towards the managers be any different. I can't tell. I can't tell. As far as I'm aware, you support them all. And that's how it should be, I think. If you've got a problem, I think as, you know, player, you should go tell them. But we shouldn't know. And we don't know. With you, I don't know what you think of them.

• 36:23Speaker 00

  I agree with that. First of all, I like every manager that comes in my way, because I learn with them. And every manager that comes in has their own idea, has their own thinking, has their own way of playing. And they want me to do one thing, the other one, another thing, the other one, another thing. And for me, that's good. Because they believe that I'm capable of doing different things that I was doing before. So what I won't give to the managers is the choice or the option in their head to think, I'm not going to play Bruno.

• 36:53Steven Bartlett?

  What do you do when you're not happy about something, though? As the captain, do you go have a chat with them?

• 36:57Speaker 00

  No, I do whatever they want me to do. If they think it's the best thing for the team, I'm going to do it. Either I agree or not, believe it more or not, I make myself available for what they want to do, 100%. If then it works or not, that's on them to decide, to decide that, if it needs to be changed or not. I'm not going to go to the manager and ask them to change formation, the way they play. If they ask me, I give my opinion. If they don't ask me, I don't say anything.

• 37:28Steven Bartlett?

  What have you learnt about what a good manager does, and how to be a good manager from the six managers you've had?

• 37:34Speaker 00

  For me, look, through my career, I've always heard that, you know, like, certain players should be treated in a different way than other players. I don't believe in that. It's like the same as having a business. You buy certain people to do certain things, because you believe they're the right person to do that. So I don't think that you then should change the way you behave with them. You should probably approach them in different ways. I believe in that, because I'm not the same as you.

• 38:06Steven Bartlett?

  Yeah. So do you treat players differently on the pitch? Because you, you know, you shout at lots of your teammates. Are there some that you won't shout at as much?

• 38:14Speaker 00

  I treat all of them the same. And I think they're kind of getting to know exactly why I do it. Everything that we train in, imagine, let's see, during the week, we train this. And we have seen images of this. We know what you have to do. The manager's prepared for us for that. I demand that, at least. I don't care who you are. We've been a full week preparing the training, the game for this. This, we need to know how to do it. Then if you can make a pass, or you can make a goal, or you can make a tackle, that's different. That's the qualities I need from each one individually. But I've learned to talk with them in different ways, but with the same end result. Not like, I won't like,

• 38:58Speaker 00

  go to one and say, like, being scared of saying things to him, and the other one, like, because he's younger whatsoever, I'm going to like, shout at him whatsoever. No. If I have to shout at this one, I'll shout this one. If I have to shout at this one, I'll shout this one. If I have to praise this one, I'll praise this one, the same way I praise this one. And I think that you can see in my interviews, I'm not afraid of saying what I feel. At the same time, I'm not afraid of praising players for what they have done, or what they're doing, even if they, probably in the moment, they haven't done as much as they needed to get the praise. But for me, I think he needs that praise to get into the next level. So I'm going to give him something, but I make him aware.

• 39:39Speaker 00

  I've gave you something, but I'm expecting something more from you. It's like my dad giving me like, you need to be better, you need to do more, because he knows I'm capable of more. And this is why I demand from the players. I demand, I'm very strong on them, because I really believe in them. I have said this so many times to so many different players, it's like, trust me, the day I stop talking to you, the day I start shouting, I stop shouting at you, is because I don't believe in you anymore. And I don't believe you can improve anymore.

• 40:08Steven Bartlett?

  Your time at Manchester United's been a bit of a roller coaster like this, kind of like, up and down and up and down. You went second, and then you dropped down the league, you're second. And, I mean, the last two years have been a prime example of that, finishing near the bottom end of the table, and then this year, back up to third. I'm wondering, as a fan, when things get bad, and you hear all these sort of rumours breaking online that the manager's going to be sacked, does that impact the dressing room? Like, do you guys in the dressing room, because you've been through it so many times where a manager has been removed, how, what's that like, when you know things are going bad?

• 40:42Speaker 00

  No, first of all, you feel it for the manager.

• 40:44Steven Bartlett?

  Really?

• 40:44Speaker 00

  Is the first thing, because I think obviously certain players will feel it more than others. Because it's their players that play more than others and they obviously, the ones that probably don't play, they don't like to see managers going, but at the same time, if a new manager comes in, it's a new opportunity for them to probably get into the team more times than we're getting before. And I think going through the process of changing manager is probably the worst thing in in in sports. Because it's starting from zero again and either either people believe it or not, when you're through a process, you want to get to the end of the process and understanding what's what that has gave to you as a player and what you can do more with that staff, with that team and with that manager to go even further more.

• 41:27Steven Bartlett?

  Why didn't you lose hope? Because you went through that process of starting from zero, making progress, manager goes back to zero, making progress, manager goes back to zero.

• 41:37Speaker 00

  You know why? Because every time, I've spoke this with Diogo before. Every time you come for pre-season, it's like a new start. And you always get that belief of like, this is gonna be the, this is gonna be the time, this is gonna be the time. There's moments through the season that you you get this belief, that things are not going well.

• 41:58Speaker 00

  But the main thing I have is belief in myself. So I always think if I do things right and I take people to do things right and I help them to do things right as a team, we still have a chance of pushing ourselves into positions we want to be. And this, let's say this season has been that case because we struggle, obviously, we didn't change manager because of results, because we were two points behind second place and like five points behind fi- fi- first place. We were same points till, I think from third to seventh place was everyone with the same points, something like that. So we were, we were there. Was something different with the with the club that they felt that the the trust between them was was broke or whatsoever?

• 42:43Speaker 00

  And they kind of decided to start a new process. And that was bad, because for us, when Ruben came, what was passed from the club is like, this is gonna be a process, but we're gonna go through this, gonna be good and bad times, but we're gonna go through this. Obviously, then the club decided that was time to part ways and you started from zero for from with Michael. But then you've got results and you went to the end of the season and you finished third. And you finished what doing probably in the time Michael was here till the end of the season till till now is we probably the team that has made more points.

• 43:20Steven Bartlett?

  What did Michael change?

• 43:22Speaker 00

  I think in in the first moment, what what what Michael tried to do is like to give stability to the team. Because as every manager understands, when you come in after a break, you understand that you need to give stability and peace of mind to the players to get back to the level

• 43:41Speaker 00

  ethos we could have. And he brought the foundation and the base that has been in this club from the time he played till the time he managed and then he left. So he knows, he knows the club, he knows how the club wants to play and he knows what the fans want to see.

• 43:58Steven Bartlett?

  How is he different? Like, what's what tactically or from a character perspective? Wh- what does Michael bring as a manager? I know as, you know, just an hour ago or so, it was announced that he's gonna be the Manchester United manager going forward, which is great news. But what what is, i- i- if you had to describe him to me as a leader and a manager, what, how is he different?

• 44:18Speaker 00

  I think he's a very, i- i- he gives you a lot of calmness, you know, in terms of why he wants from the team, the way he demands, the way he coaches. He gives you, he gives you a good way of going to the game with with a good peace of mind, but with a lot of responsibility. Because I think from the time he was here with Sir Alex, he gave a lot of responsibility to the players to make decisions and to make choices on the pitch that have to be on you. He gives you the base, he gives you the foundation, he gives you certain rules that is like the non-negotiable ones. But then he also knows and he wants us to take some responsibility to the game that things might change. Because you prepare a game full week, obviously, but then the team could come and

• 45:01Speaker 00

  do a different thing, like you prepare to play against a four-three-three because they always played four-three-three and then they come and they play three-five-two. And then you go like, oh, and now the manager can't be on the sideline telling you where to press, where to go. So as a players, have the foundation, have the base, have the rules, non-negotiables. And from there on, we need to find a way of like, okay, let's imagine we can press because they've changed everything and the press we prepared was not was not the one we needed. Let's get compact, let's get together, they don't get into our block, when we have the ball, we play with the ball. We get into the half-time and then the manager will give us the message that he wants to give or whatever he has seen that we need to do differently in a way of getting a better result from the from the pressure.

• 45:42Speaker 00

  And I think that's what he gave to us, the calmness and the way he prepares games was very good. But when things were not going in the way we wanted, he gave responsibility to the players to like, make it work, then we solve it.

• 45:56Steven Bartlett?

  Ah, so like a bit of freedom to?

• 45:58Speaker 00

  It's not exactly freedom, because freedom is a different thing. It's like, he gives you freedom with the ball to make decisions. Because he says, that's your responsibility on the ball, I can't tell you where to pass the ball, I can't tell you where to shoot. I can help you where the space is gonna be. And I think that the most important thing for a player is knowing where space is gonna be. You need to know where spaces are to then play with it. You know that they have big gaps there that we can hurt them from there. And this is the message that Michael has passed to the team. It's like, if we talk from here, they have less people on this side, we can bring more people in the box from this side. We want a very good counter-press because they have two strikers, so we need to have three people in in the back. Two of them mark, one of them stays behind. So this is the small things and the foundation that he gives to us.

• 46:43Speaker 00

  But then he says many times, I can't tell you where to pass, I can't tell you where to shoot. I give you the solutions, but might not be there. So you have to find a way of making the good pass, the good shot, the good decision. Because I'm not gonna be in your head in that moment. In your head, it's gonna be the ideas I gave you and some of them will be good, some of them won't won't work out. So you have to make a way of like, understand the good ones I gave you and the other ones that are not working well, you need to find a way of make it work.

• 47:11Steven Bartlett?

  So it's more just, he gives you the principles instead of specific instructions on how to play and what to do?

• 47:20Speaker 00

  Kind of gives you, but then he lets you balance through the game.

• 47:23Steven Bartlett?

  Okay.

• 47:23Speaker 00

  He lets, let's say, he lets the players read the game. Because in ninety minutes, many things happen and not gonna always happen, what you see in the video. Hopefully, yes, but not always. For example, let's say we had the chance against Nottingham Forest that I passed the ball to Brian and he scores. We have seen the same chance from Villa against Forest. The exact same chance, exact same movements, exact same passes. And we've seen that, we've visualized that and that's why that works. Because we had the ideas, we knew we could make that happen and we made it.

• 48:04Steven Bartlett?

  Does he get angry? Because he seems like such a calm guy. When you see him in press conferences, he's very calm and very, you know?

• 48:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, he did, he did, he did get hungry one, once or twice, but he's very calm in the way he speaks. But I think, I think everyone gets angry anyway. But he's a very calm presence and he's he's someone that speaks very well, knows the timing, the words, he knows what to say. And whenever he got, when he, let's get, let's say, more aggressive within us was was the time that we needed to to get that from him.

• 48:36Steven Bartlett?

  And the way that you play is interesting, because when I was looking at a bunch of your quotes over time, but also how I think about business, you are a player that takes more risks than most people. And we talk a lot about failure in business and how you have to increase your rate of failure to to to get better outcomes. But you're a player that is not shy of taking a risk. And you play in a way where you you sometimes lose the ball, but you also, as we've seen this year and in many other years, you often are generating more opportunities than any other player on the pitch. How do you think about this? Because the way you play means that sometimes you're gonna make a lot of mistakes, you're gonna lose the ball, more so than other players. I'd argue even more so than some of the previous midfielders we've had like Carrick, who would often choose a more safe option than trying to play it through a thin gap. What's your attitude towards risk?

• 49:21Speaker 00

  I think it's always risk reward, you know, you you need to understand how much reward you're gonna get from that. And if taking that risk is good for the team or not, let's say the position I play, you need that, is has to be one of your main skills to take risks, to do things that the game demands from you and to make sure that your teammates in the front get the ball in the positions that is gonna be, the rate of success for them to score a goal is gonna be higher. I might miss two or three times, but if I get one right, that can become a goal for us. I think there's nothing better than a risk reward that is a goal.

• 50:06Speaker 00

  So I think when you play as a number ten position, obviously, you don't want to lose the ball. You have, you have to make that as less as possible. But in certain positions, you lose the ball more often than others. Wingers will lose more the ball on one-v-ones than midfielders do. Fullbacks will do normally more crosses than centre-backs will do. Number sixes will make more tackles than a striker will do. So it's a balance in the team that you need to have. Let's imagine, I played with Kobe and Kassad, they're not a risk player. So if I take four times, let's say, a risky pass and they take one each, that's six times a game.

• 50:51Speaker 00

  So I need to be the one that takes four, they need to be the ones that take one, one each. Because the responsibility they have in the team is the one that they make the team play from the build-up, push the team forward to then get the ball into the players that have to take the risks. Because if you don't have the players that take the risks, you're gonna end up bubbling. And we talk like, for example, let's say, Man City, there is a team that's that, let's say, Guardiola, Tiki-Taka, all these things. De Bruno was the player that take the risks. Cherokee is now the player that take the risks. Phil Foden, Doku, Mahrez will be the ones that taking the risks on a one-v-one.

• 51:33Steven Bartlett?

  Has the manager ever told you to take less risks?

• 51:35Speaker 00

  Eric told me to take less shots.

• 51:38Steven Bartlett?

  Less shots?

• 51:39Speaker 00

  From the outside of the box. He showed me a board with my success rating of shots on target, shots off target and goals. Show me the positions where I was more effective and he told me, I think you need to get more into these positions to then make a shot.

• 51:55Steven Bartlett?

  Into what positions?

• 51:56Speaker 00

  Let's say, close to the box, like in in the position, we will see the box. And he would say like, more towards left-hand side, you score more goals, more towards the right-hand side, you're, you aim more the goal. Towards the middle of the, of of the, of the edge of the box, you miss more shots. So he was like, get more into the left side or get more into the right side or close range, long range. So, but then obviously, is is is, we come back to the risk and reward. Because sometimes, obviously, you're gonna score a great goal from twenty-five yards out. But how many times you gonna do it? Out of five, you maybe score one and it's a lot already.

• 52:37Speaker 00

  So I need to make that risk become less and less and less, getting more risk probably from eighteen yards. Because there's a possibility of me scoring a goal, it might be three in five. Because I'm much more closer, I can put more power on the ball, I can be much more effective.

• 52:57Steven Bartlett?

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• 53:42Steven Bartlett?

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• 54:23Steven Bartlett?

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• 55:04Steven Bartlett?

  You've had lots of managers, so they've all asked you of different, to be, you know, play in different positions. But on on this pitch here, where is it that you you like to play the most?

• 55:16Speaker 00

  I think the positions where I can be more effective is this square, let's say. Yeah, I would say let's, let's put it like this. Yeah, no, just, just need a square.

• 55:28Steven Bartlett?

  Oh, you just need a square?

• 55:29Speaker 00

  This is, let's say, imagine we're attacking this side. This, this is the spaces where I think I can be more effective in this square here.

• 55:39Steven Bartlett?

  And different managers asked you to play in different positions within here?

• 55:43Speaker 00

  Because, for example, let's say, let's put it here. With Ruben, he used to play three at the back, one wing-back, two midfielders, another wing-back and striker and two tens. With Ruben, I played a lot of times here

• 56:05Speaker 00

  in this position when he first came and he wanted me, and and in this position, these two. More, more, more than often, he wanted me to be one of these two to help here, to help these two midfielders to build up and to get this guy higher in a position when he can be in the last line and to get the ball into these two.

• 56:26Steven Bartlett?

  So what position would you call that, like left?

• 56:28Speaker 00

  This was the left ten, let's say, but he wanted me to play more like as a left midfielder to help them to like, first of all, to have more stability in the middle, second, to get the ball going forward, to take the risk of passing the ball forward. Then I played a lot of times here.

• 56:45Steven Bartlett?

  What we're gonna do is we're gonna make you, unfortunately, we're gonna make you blue just so we can see which one you are.

• 56:49Speaker 00

  Okay. So in this one, when I played here many times, he wanted me here. Because they were pressing, let's say, three against three and he wanted me to come and do the overload. So we have one more player to build up. So they will open up this one a little bit more, get this one more offensive. Normally it was Luke Shaw, then as a fullback, he was used to play in this space. And so then we could drive the ball and they couldn't press with the three they had. They wouldn't be able to press because we always had this one also to bounce the ball. Then whenever we go up the pitch with the ball, he wanted me here.

• 57:23Steven Bartlett?

  Ruben did.

• 57:24Speaker 00

  Yeah. He wanted me to play more, a little bit more higher, to be one of the three tens and make this line of the three tens. Then, for example, with Ole, I was playing, we would play like four, two, three, one, and I would be the number ten and he wanted me to do this.

• 57:44Steven Bartlett?

  Uh, okay, go across.

• 57:45Speaker 00

  And sometimes he wanted me to do this and get the ball here or here to make the long passes and to make the switches to the to the wingers. I think this bit here in the middle is where I'm more against, I I think we all can see the best version of Bruno. If you ask me where I prefer to play, anywhere on the pitch. I think for the way we play, this is the position I I can be more effective. But I think I really enjoy to play here because I really enjoy to get the team to play. And if you, I played many times with Tanag like this.

• 58:28Speaker 00

  I was the number six playing with two eights and I really enjoyed to play here. And it make make myself being different, a different player, more aggressive of the ball, someone that has to cover spaces for these ones.

• 58:40Steven Bartlett?

  Regardless of where you are on the pitch, which can change, what is non-negotiable in terms of how you play?

• 58:47Speaker 00

  Commitment. That's, that's non-negotiable, like the commitment I have for what we have to do. It doesn't change by me liking the position or not, me preferring one position or the other.

• 59:02Speaker 00

  That that won't change.

• 59:05Speaker 00

  I think running, fighting and team spirit can never miss.

• 59:11Steven Bartlett?

  It doesn't appear to me that you ever get tired. And also, one remarkable thing about you is you don't seem to ever get injured.

• 59:17Speaker 00

  I get tired and I got injured unfortunately, oh.

• 59:20Steven Bartlett?

  But how, how does that happen? Because I I watch you run, it'd be the eighty-ninth minute and you're running up and down still. Is that genetic or is that something you do in training? What is that?

• 59:28Speaker 00

  I think obviously, I've, I have to say that I have good genetics, but is, I I was talking with Diogo about this the other day also and the nutritionist about like genetics, how how you, how you treat yourself and everything. But then at the same time, I said to them, you know what's different on me than the other ones? Because I always train a hundred percent. I make the training as a game, I don't care. I go full and if I I don't feel good, I I need to make some extras. If I feel that the training wasn't like enough, let's do something else, let's do some shots, let's do some crosses to someone, let's do something that can make me go out of training and feeling like I'm tired.

• 1:00:06Steven Bartlett?

  Why is that important?

• 1:00:07Speaker 00

  Because I think in the game, you need to get tired. And then, you know, like, for example, when I, when I'm training, shooting practice or last third passes, I rather train that when I'm tired. Because it's gonna be the last twenty minutes of the game, your brain is not gonna work in the same way it was working in the beginning. Because you get tired and you get to think slower a little bit. So you need to be able to train your body and your brain when they are tired. And I think if you do that in training, when you get to the game and you start getting tired, your brain is used to that also, your body is used to be tired and he knows how to react into into that moment.

• 1:00:45Steven Bartlett?

  These core principles that have been central to how you play have led you to being given this, the captain's armband, which was quite, there was lots of talk of it at the time because Maguire was the captain before you. And it's quite atypical for the captain to be displaced while they're still at the club and for someone else to be brought in. And as fans from the outside, we wonder how Maguire takes that, how Harry reacts to that, but also what that means to you to become captain of your dream club.

• 1:01:13Speaker 00

  No, obviously, for me was was a strange time because I was not expecting, you know, Tanak called me to his office to speak with me and to ask me if I wanted to be the captain of the club. Because he had decided to change the captain and he wanted me to be to be the one to lead the team from now on. Obviously, first thought was like, very grateful, I'm like, something that I've never dreamed about, you know, like you, you can have many dreams, but you don't dream about being the captain, you know, like of your club. And I think the second thought was like, This is going to be tough on Harry. And the first person that I spoke with after I got out of that was Harry. Because he knew already, I think the manager spoke to him.

• 1:01:59Speaker 00

  And before I said, yes, I want to speak with him. Because the manager basically made me the question if I wanted also like, he didn't said like, you're going to be the captain, that's it point, he asked me. And I went to speak with Harry and the first question I made was if he was leaving the club. Because obviously, as you said, it's not something normal. I've never been through this in my whole career. And I spoke with him about that, the offer that they gave it to me. And to be honest to him, and he said, he said like, if is there someone that deserves that? It's you and I'm very, very happy that it's you getting the captain armband. That if I have to take it all for myself, I think you really deserve that.

• 1:02:42Speaker 00

  And I think that was the point that made me understand that I was doing things right, you know? Obviously, I know for him was very difficult and I don't think he would have said something bad, even if he felt it to me. But the way we spoke and the way I think I've been treating him through these years, also in the same way of like I said, straight away to him, like you might have lost the armband, but you're still one of our leaders and that won't change everything that we've been through. Because Harry, when he was the captain, we always made decisions together also, because I was one of them. And that hasn't changed now, because every time I have to do or take some decisions for the team, I speak with certain players and Harry is one of them that is always there.

• 1:03:25Steven Bartlett?

  And your performance this season speaks for itself. You've won, you've done 34 appearances, which I think is an achievement in and of itself, because a lot of players aren't that consistent on the pitch. You've scored eight goals, 20 assists, you've got 12 Player of the Match awards, which is the most by any player in the Premier League, six Player of the Month awards, and only Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah have more, all of them have seven. And you've also won Matt Busby's Player of the Year Award for the fifth time, the most by any other Man United player. And this, that's an award voted by the fans. And there's other awards that I know you've won in recent times. I saw you on stage the other day, winning more awards. What has, what's happened? Why, why are you sudden, you know, you've had, you've been consistent throughout the whole time

• 1:04:07Steven Bartlett?

  since you've been at the club, but this year seems to stand out for some reason?

• 1:04:12Speaker 00

  No, I think, I think for this season, first of all, I think when the team shines, the individual comes up. And I think this season is being much better from the last, let's say, two seasons. At the same time, I think the assists record and all this going around made, made me having a lot of headlines and stuff like that. Obviously, it's an achievement that hasn't been done for any players, just Kevin De Bruno and Thierry. So.

• 1:04:40Steven Bartlett?

  I've got the little graph here, it says, yeah, Kevin De Bruno, Thierry. I actually spoke to Thierry about this as well and he sends his regards to you, congratulates you on joining him up there and with, with the record.

• 1:04:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's, it's something like, that I'm very grateful for, you know, like we, I put him, I put my name in this, in this case with them. Up there is something, something that I've never dreamed about or think about. I like, I probably started thinking about that when I got probably into 16, 17 assists. I was like, oh, I'm, I'm actually getting closer now. But it was not something that was in my head, because in my head is always improving my last season and getting better numbers, better outputs, better performance. And it was never in my mind that I would go to 18, 19, 20 or whatsoever. But obviously, when you start getting close, you start thinking about a little bit.

• 1:05:32Steven Bartlett?

  And then all of us as fans start watching the games to see if you can do it.

• 1:05:35Speaker 00

  And then, and then obviously, I think I've been very consistent in terms of performance during my six years here, but probably other years were people that stand out that more than me. And that's why I probably didn't got as much attention as I did this season.

• 1:05:53Steven Bartlett?

  With being captain and with being at the biggest club in the world, I think in terms of fanbase, with that comes pressure and responsibility. The world talks about you, you know? No matter what industry you're in, an occupational hazard of being at the very, very top or the peak of your powers or being even better is more and more talk. And, you know, I think especially because of this, people are talking even more about Bruno Fernandes than I've ever seen. You know, in my group chat, I've got Man United group chat and we're watching the game, we're watching, we're willing you to, we were willing you to reach this record, which you did. And now because you're, you know, people are saying you're the, you're the Player of the Year in the Premier League, they're, they're giving you all these big awards. With that comes even more criticism and I think this is where your childhood has prepared you.

• 1:06:35Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:36Steven Bartlett?

  But your dad, it sounds like your dad prepared you. I, I wanted to, I wanted to clear something up because it was on my mind. And I imagine it's frustrating for you, which is when your words are twisted in the media. And recently, Roy Keane criticised your mentality based on a quote he got completely backwards. He claimed you said, I should have shot, but I made the passes and used that to suggest that you were chasing individual assist stats. But everyone who actually listened to the interview, including myself, knows you said almost the exact opposite. You were being self-critical of yourself and saying you should have passed the ball instead of shot, because you wanted the best for your team. And so, interestingly, because I've spoken to so many of your, your players, your, you know, your teammates over the last couple of days about you, they also told me that this is

• 1:07:19Steven Bartlett?

  the exact opposite of your mentality on the pitch and off the pitch. And I know it must be frustrating for you, your leadership style to be sort of misrepresented in that way. How, how, how do you respond to that? Like, how do you deal with that when you hear it and you go, that's not what I said?

• 1:07:33Speaker 00

  Yeah, to be honest, like I've always said, I don't mind criticism. I've always take criticism from everyone and anyone and I never reply to anything or whatsoever. People have an opinion, they think it's good, bad, whatever. What I don't like was when people lie about things. And this case that you said about Roy Keane, basically what he said is a lie. Because you can, either, either he saw some other interview or he can't say that I said one thing that I've just not said. And luckily for me, he's everything on record. Imagine if he wasn't, like, then people will think like, oh yeah, Bruno is, is the guy always trying to got the assist. But one thing that is consistent is my number of creation is always the same. So it's not that I've been trying to reach this now, no.

• 1:08:16Speaker 00

  I've been creating chances since I came to the Premier League, probably more than anyone else. So he hasn't changed that. My type of play or aim of play or way of playing hasn't changed since I came to the Premier League. It's not that this season, probably Roy Keane saw someone like Bruno creating more because he wanted the assist record, no. He's seeing the same Bruno, that it's about risky reward, it's about creating chances for his teammates, it's about getting the best out of the other ones. Because the thing is like, you will get criticised anyway. If you say, if you're scoring goals, you'll get criticised because you're not passing the ball and you're shooting. If you're, if you're, if you're doing assists, it's because you're passing too much and you're shooting to score goals. So it's going to always be like that. People will always make the, the balance the way they want. They won't balance things, they will put it the, the way they want the things to be.

• 1:09:02Speaker 00

  And obviously, I think I've always showed a lot of respect for, for Roy Keane and for everything he's done for the club and for everything he's, he's, he's always said. I've never ever had something to say, I've never said something wrong. I even asked Ole his number to text him, to be honest, to, to, to have a word with him, to say like, that I don't mind the criticism, I don't like when people lie about things that I say. Because this is like, goes a little bit over the top of the things that I think are acceptable. I accept the criticism, I accept that he can say things that I don't like and I don't like to see it. But as I said before, that improves me. What I don't like is that people make their own words on what I say and it's not true.

• 1:09:45Speaker 00

  He can criticism, criticising me, killing me, say that I'm not good enough, that I'm not a good captain for him, that I'm not a good player for the club whatsoever. It's bad, it's, it's okay, I don't mind. Is it, is the opinion, I like it? No, obviously, I prefer Roy Keane to give me some praise sometimes because I've achieved something that not many players have achieved. I understand that this club is about winning trophies, I've never take that off my mind. I've always said in front of everyone that I want to in the Premier League and the Champions League. I never said I wanted to be the best player in the Premier League. Never, never one time, any, any person has heard that Bruno wanted to get the assist record or get the goals record or get the Player of the Season or get being better than anyone else. No, Bruno wants the club to be successful, Bruno wants the club to win trophies

• 1:10:30Speaker 00

  and it's all Bruno wants. I accept his criticism, I accept that he might likes, like me as a player or not, likes me as a person or not. But what I don't like is that he puts words in my mouth that has not been said. That's the only thing I don't like.

• 1:10:46Steven Bartlett?

  Well, I am, I did actually ask your, your teammates what you were like. And I asked them on and off camera, on and off the record. I couldn't get some of them to be very serious, but what I, what I received is lots and lots of voice notes from lots and lots of your, your former players. I text around last night and I'll play you what they said.

• 1:11:09Speaker 02

  My friend Bruno, taking this opportunity to spread some love to you. I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much we value you as a player and as a person. I think not many people get to see how are you after the games and outside of the pitch. So I would say that's one of your best qualities, the way you care, the way you, one of the first to help everyone, your leadership, your consistency. That's something that I take from, from example and you know it. It's been a lot of years together right now. So hopefully this, this can continue and we can win so many things and so much, much more things together.

• 1:11:54Speaker 04

  Skipper, it's Tom. For me, you're a world-class footballer, consistently world-class as well, which is, which is very difficult. I think everyone knows that, how good you are. But I think more importantly, from, from my view is how you are as a human being and that's a side that not many people get to see. You know, the caring, compassionate, supporting, demanding at the right times. But yeah, I think for me, that, that is by far and away probably your best quality. It's why you're the, the leader of this team and such a good human being. So for me, proud to call you the captain, but more importantly, a friend, so top class.

• 1:12:30Speaker 03

  I mean, what he does on the pitch obviously speaks for itself, but I mean, away from football, he's, he's an unbelievable human being. The way he treats people, looks after people, the way he lifts others when they need it. And I feel like the respect he gives everyone around him that says everything about his, his character. And I feel like I've been lucky to spend a number of years with him and he's one of them people that you, you kind of appreciate having around you every single day. He's the type of player who makes people around him better without even trying. We love you, capitano.

• 1:13:10Steven Bartlett?

  We love you, capitano.

• 1:13:13Steven Bartlett?

  I mean, I had so many more, but we just don't have the time.

• 1:13:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, no, it's just, you know, the standout from that for me is just the way they speak

• 1:13:26Speaker 00

  from me as a person, not more as a player, you know, like. And you, you picked some people that I'm very demanding on them, you know, like Diogo and Lucas as being probably the players that have been more time with me. Tom is probably up there with Harry, Harry, Luke, Diogo and then Tom. And these, these people that I really respect a lot. But as, as I said to you, like it's not what they say about me as a player, it's more what they say from me as, as a person. That, that makes me very proud and very happy because you, you can be a good player and I'm going to meet a lot of good players in the, in the world of football and you can train with a lot of them and meet them a lot.

• 1:14:09Speaker 00

  But I think that what it stays at the end is like the way you behave as a person. And I like to see that I have the good values that my parents showed me.

• 1:14:19Steven Bartlett?

  That's what I said at the start, when you started describing what your parents had instilled in you back in Porto, it sounded like what all your colleagues and your, the players you play with said to me as well, because I've done this before. And people will say, oh, he's a great player, he's amazing, whatever. But what was consistently true through all of those messages, and there's so many more, is they all chose to speak about you as a human?

• 1:14:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:14:39Steven Bartlett?

  And that's clear, that clearly comes from whatever your parents did at a young age.

• 1:14:45Steven Bartlett?

  Why does that mean so much to you? I can see it in your face.

• 1:14:48Speaker 00

  No, because as I said to you, I think as a player, you can be as good as you want. Like at the end of the day, I think the way you behave and the way you treat people around you is the most important thing. Because you spend so much time with them that they kind of become part of your day by day. You know, like you, you see more than often than, than I see my parents, for example. I, I, obviously my wife and my kids is the people that I see the most, but then after that is them. I don't see my friends from Portugal as often as them, my parents, my brother, my sister. I see more them and, and the way I behave, the way I've been raised, the way I want to live my life

• 1:15:27Speaker 00

  and the way I want my kids to be is, is the way they've, they've said the things about me and this makes me very proud.

• 1:15:39Steven Bartlett?

  What, what is that emotion?

• 1:15:42Speaker 00

  I don't know, it's just like, it's good to hear that, just, just that.

• 1:15:48Steven Bartlett?

  It's so interesting because I don't think any, anybody else that I've met would respond how you're responding to hearing people talk about you as a man and as a human?

• 1:15:59Speaker 00

  I don't know. I'm just a, a soft guy, doesn't look on a pitch, but I'm quite, quite a soft guy.

• 1:16:08Steven Bartlett?

  One thing I've learnt from interviewing a lot of founders and building companies myself is that trust is the real currency of business. It's the thing that gets customers to buy, partners to say yes, investors to back you. But as you grow, trust stops being just a feeling and becomes something you have to prove. Because the bigger you get, the more exposed you are. Customer data, security expectations, regulations, all of it. And the risk of one small mistake becomes incredibly significant. And if you've ever tried to scale while keeping on top of all of that, you'll know it can become a full-time job. But our sponsor, Vanta, automates your compliance processes and brings compliance, risk and customer trust together through their AI-powered platform. And the companies already using Vanta say they spend 82% less time on audits because of Vanta's platform.

• 1:16:51Steven Bartlett?

  So if your organisation wants to inject time back into building and growing, make sure you head over to vanta.com/daily. That's vanta.com/daily. I've done almost 700 interviews with some of the most interesting people in the world. And one of the things you learn, which is unexpected, is that vulnerability is the doorway to connection. And after sitting here for two, three hours with a guest, I feel a deep sense of connection to them. And as they leave, what I get them to do is to write a question in the diary of a CEO. We've taken all of the questions from the diary of a CEO. We have put the question here on this card with the name of the person that wrote it. So you can sit at home, as I do with my fiance and my colleagues at work and other people in my life,

• 1:17:36Steven Bartlett?

  whenever we get a minute, we play the diary of a CEO conversation cards. And it is incredible what happens. These are great if you're in a romantic relationship and you want to connect your partner more. These are also great if you're in a team and you want to bond your team together. And I have to say, they're also great for families that want to learn more about each other and that need a good excuse to spend some time in a digital world, in the analogue environment, connecting human to human. It is remarkable what the right question at the right time can do. Go to thediary.com and you can get these conversation cards right now.

• 1:18:12Steven Bartlett?

  One of the things I learnt through my investigations is that you have a clause in your contract and you don't have to, you confirm or deny this, I'm not going to ask you to. But what I, what I discovered is that you have a clause in your contract which allows you to leave for, I, I was, I found out 60 million. And you chose not to leave Manchester United. You got a very, very, very large financial offer. I mean, I've seen some of the numbers that are reported, up to 200 million to leave Manchester United. And you chose not to leave. You could have rode off into the sunset. You frankly, I think the way you were playing, you could have gone to almost any club in the world. You could have got paid more and probably would have had a, a, a more certain guarantee of winning silverware. And for some reason, you chose to stay.

• 1:18:56Steven Bartlett?

  When that offer came in, reportedly from the Middle East, that, you know, the big offer that we're hearing, for a contract that was worth reportedly 200 million, why didn't you go?

• 1:19:10Speaker 00

  I, I said it before, I, I haven't fulfilled my dreams here, you know, at this club.

• 1:19:17Steven Bartlett?

  Was that a conversation you had with your wife?

• 1:19:19Speaker 00

  Yeah, also.

• 1:19:21Steven Bartlett?

  What was that conversation? She seems to be there all the time when you make these big decisions.

• 1:19:25Speaker 00

  Oh, of course. She's the one, probably, I never make a decision by myself. Because obviously, moving around nowadays with two kids, there's, there's a lot to say, obviously. And more than, I don't know, become a most richest person in my hometown. I want to live my dreams and pass through the values to my kids that they, they need to have. And my family is always going to be the number one priority in everything I do. Because they followed my dream. Fuck you.

• 1:20:10Speaker 00

  They, they, my wife, obviously, I know on the other side, it looks great life, obviously a lot of money, good, a lot of good things. But she chose to leave my dream with me. And that says a lot about her because, let's say that when she chose to do that, I was 17 years old, going to a club with one point, like let's say, how you say, 1500, you say?

• 1:20:46Steven Bartlett?

  1500.

• 1:20:47Speaker 00

  Yes. A month in Italy.

• 1:20:53Speaker 00

  A lot of uncertainty, let's say. She had her own life, she had her own.

• 1:21:04Speaker 00

  Dreams. And obviously, she said like, I'm gonna help you. And that's what she did. Since day one until now. So she always has a say on everything I do.

• 1:21:23Steven Bartlett?

  And you've been with her since she was 16? You're 16?

• 1:21:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, 16. She was 16, now I was about to be 17, so more or less that's. And then after that, we have constructed a beautiful family.

• 1:21:38Steven Bartlett?

  Two beautiful kids?

• 1:21:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:21:40Steven Bartlett?

  And so on that day when you get a big offer to leave Manchester United, she's the first person you speak to?

• 1:21:45Speaker 00

  Of course, as always. I spoke obviously first my agent, because he speaks with me about the offer. But then the first thing I did was call her. And I was in, I think it was Hong Kong that we were. Like, we went on the postseason tour. And the timing was not the best to talk with her because of the time difference and everything. But she was there again. And what the words she said was like, have you achieved everything you wanted to achieve in your career? Is this the next step you want to give for your future and for your career? Like, because obviously, this is the league I want to be. This is the best league in the world.

• 1:22:30Speaker 00

  This is where I'm gonna enjoy my football as I'm not gonna enjoy it in any other place. So we still have dreams to fulfill.

• 1:22:43Steven Bartlett?

  Why does that make you emotional?

• 1:22:44Speaker 00

  I don't know, talking about family, it's tough. Just because in the football career, you go through a lot of ups and downs and a lot of difficult moments. And let's say the ones that suffered most of them, because they see your good moments, your bad moments, your good things, your bad things, your good side, your bad side also.

• 1:23:15Speaker 00

  But they always stand by you. So that's the most important thing you can have in life.

• 1:23:24Steven Bartlett?

  She's always been there.

• 1:23:25Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:23:27Steven Bartlett?

  She looks like my fiancee a little bit. She Portuguese.

• 1:23:29Speaker 00

  Portuguese girl, yeah.

• 1:23:32Steven Bartlett?

  Very down to earth, I hear.

• 1:23:33Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's the one that pushed me down to earth also when I'm probably getting too much or feeling too big. She's always also very, very tough on me to make me understand that's all the things to improve. It's my, let's say, she's the second version of my dad.

• 1:23:59Speaker 00

  Probably that's why I chose her and she chose me in a certain way.

• 1:24:06Steven Bartlett?

  Does she know this? Does she know? Have you been able to tell her?

• 1:24:10Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:24:11Steven Bartlett?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:11Speaker 00

  She's not. She's gonna, I can't say the word, what she's gonna say after she sees this and she sees me crying. She's gonna say I'm very soft. I won't say the word exactly. Let's say I'm the affection one, you know, the one that likes hugs, that likes.

• 1:24:29Speaker 00

  She's more, I don't know, she's, she likes, she's, she, I think she, she's through her life. She had many things going on and she built this thing around her that she doesn't need. Let's say she doesn't need much love or whatsoever. But is there many moments where I know she needs, I know she feels it. I know she kind of like, she's just like, is not good at saying what she feels. And I'm more open. I show more my emotions. I show more if I care, if I don't care, if I suffer, if I don't suffer. She kind of closes a little bit for herself.

• 1:25:16Speaker 00

  But she's a very strong woman, to be honest.

• 1:25:18Steven Bartlett?

  I know you have two beautiful kids together.

• 1:25:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, we have a beautiful girl. That was the first one. At the time, we were in Italy. And then it came little Gonzalo when we were in England. So one, let's say that she's always saying that she's half Italian and one that basically looks like British is white, blonde.

• 1:25:44Speaker 00

  And one half English, let's say, and then two full Portuguese people.

• 1:25:49Steven Bartlett?

  I didn't realise your celebration where you cover your ears for your daughter.

• 1:25:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:25:53Steven Bartlett?

  She covers her ears, right?

• 1:25:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, she used to do it when she was younger. She's too old for that now. She's a little, I don't know, very, very strong minded, very strong attitude. She has a lot from me in the terms of being very strong and very, she's like, she can take care of herself very well. It's exactly like her mum.

• 1:26:17Steven Bartlett?

  Well, I wanted to say thank you. I'm a Man United fan and hearing that you have gone through this very tumultuous period with the club, where you could have gone, where you've had many offers from many people to go and do something else. And you've had offers where people offered you even more money. And for whatever reason, and I think I now understand because I've understood your values that your parents instilled in you, you chose to stay and to stick with us as a club and as a fanbase. So on behalf of myself and all of my friends that are Man United fans and the Manchester United fanbase, I just wanted to say a huge thank you. Loyalty is increasingly rare these days in football because people are often thinking about other things. So as a Man United fan, thank you so much.

• 1:27:00Steven Bartlett?

  By doing that, you've also taught me something as a man. You've also taught me what loyalty is and how you treat other people. And you've taught me a lesson about responsibility in my businesses, in my relationships and in my life. And I think this is a really important lesson because there are so many young men that look up to you. And what you've said through the good and the bad times is that you keep on going. You keep on going, you keep on fighting. You don't give up, you don't quit. And it's so great that the captain of the biggest club on earth has those values and puts those values before other things that might tempt someone with less integrity. So I just wanted to say a huge thank you. And I also am passing that on from many of your teammates who are very, very, very glad that you stayed.

• 1:27:43Speaker 00

  Okay, thank you very much. I really appreciate that. That's very kind words from you.

• 1:27:48Steven Bartlett?

  And I hope you stay even longer. Because I think we're coming into an interesting period of Manchester United where I think we have a lot of the sort of foundations in place now to carry on.

• 1:27:59Speaker 00

  That's what I hope so. And I think that's not the club, but everything in general, the fans and everyone, I think, really, really deserve to be back to the glory days.

• 1:28:12Steven Bartlett?

  Things have changed. I mean, Ineos are here now. I know quite a lot of the guys at Ineos. I was away in the tour with a couple of them during the American preseason tour. And one of the things they said to me is that when they arrived in the club, there wasn't structure. Couple of them had said to me, there just wasn't. And it's so rare that you have this huge gap between the manager and the ownership or the players and the ownership, that usually in clubs there's structure. They, I think from what I've heard from players, they've put that structure in place now. How has it changed with Ineos's arrival?

• 1:28:45Speaker 00

  No, I think first of all, it was important because, as you said, not that we didn't have a structure, but it was very difficult for players to understand where they had to go. To talk in certain situations that we were not very clear we should talk with. And now I think it's very clear that you have Jason, then you have Omar and then you have Sajim. I'm very aware that now the structure that we have is a good foundation and a good base for us to understand where and which places we need to go if we need something as a club or as a players.

• 1:29:18Steven Bartlett?

  Has it improved?

• 1:29:20Speaker 00

  We started a process with Ruben where we thought that would be a process of three, four years. That was the plan of the club. Then we know there was a break in a relationship there between the manager and the club and they had to change unfortunately. And now today, they have announced that they want to go in a direction with Michael. And hopefully for me, I hope that he stays stable because the main thing the club needs is stability in terms of managing. Because if you really believe that Michael is the guy and you took him to the job, I think you have to give him the foundations he needs to build what he thinks he needs for a successful team. At the same time, I think you brought someone in that knows what are the values of the club.

• 1:30:04Speaker 00

  And I think that's the main thing and the most important thing, that the club brings people in that know the values and know what's needed and have a great character to be at this club.

• 1:30:13Steven Bartlett?

  And Michael's the guy?

• 1:30:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, because as I said, I think he's the one that knows the club better than any player that here. He's been probably more time at the club. I've been with him as a manager, assistant manager and then manager. The way he behaves, he shows that he has the character to be the manager of Man United. And I think that's very important to have someone that in the full process will know always where he wants to go, where he wants to be and how much he wants this club to succeed.

• 1:30:43Steven Bartlett?

  You said to me earlier that since Michael Carrick has joined, Man United have won more points than any club in the Premier League and that's statistically accurate. For this to continue on and to continue going forward, obviously the summer is going to be really, really important. And I was talking to a few of the other players about this as well, like Diego. What needs to happen this summer in your opinion for Manchester United to continue to move up and potentially even fight for the title?

• 1:31:05Speaker 00

  We need recruitment. This is obviously, we know, like, obviously we losing Casemiro, there is a pivotal thing that we had. So we're gonna need a player to replace him. Either he's a player that is already in the house, either he's a player that's coming. We need to reinforce the team to become stronger as a team, not we need the best player in the world, this or that. No, we need players that want to come to United to understand that we through a process that we want to win the league, but it might not happen. But this is the way we want to go to become the successful club that we were before. So I think the recruitment has to be the right one. We need to bring the right people in again, as we did last summer. I think in that Ruben was great in the choices he made to bring the players he did to the club

• 1:31:48Speaker 00

  because he brought good characters, good players and good professionals also. And I think that's very important for the next one.

• 1:31:55Steven Bartlett?

  Bruno, we have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they're leaving the question for. And the question that's been left for you is if we sat here in five years' time and the five years that had just passed were a huge success, what would have to have happened?

• 1:32:15Speaker 00

  Huge success.

• 1:32:18Speaker 00

  Let's say that I've won the Premier League, I've won the Champions League with the club and we've brought.

• 1:32:25Steven Bartlett?

  Got the old.

• 1:32:27Speaker 00

  We've brought the club back to the place he has to be in terms of club, obviously. In five years' time, I would like to be able to, that's one of the gold ones too with my national team, of course. That's, let's say that's my biggest goal in terms of career.

• 1:32:45Steven Bartlett?

  The World Cup.

• 1:32:46Speaker 00

  Probably the World Cup. I would say, because winning the Premier League and the Champions League with this club will be amazing. But representing my nation will be always the biggest achievement I have in my career. Because not many players get to do that, you know, like representing your, this is when you represent your people, when you represent your parents, your brother, sister, wife, kids. This is, you represent that small nation inside, but in size, but big in quality and big in love and fearless, a fearless country that has conquered the world many times in different ways.

• 1:33:27Speaker 00

  And do it in a football way will be a great achievement for us.

• 1:33:33Steven Bartlett?

  Irrespective of what happens here, and I very much believe that Manchester United has now the potential to go and challenge for these trophies here because of all the hard work that has been put in by many people in this club, but also because of your loyalty. Irrespective of what happens, you're gonna be a cult here at this club forever. Not irrespective of this stuff, because I think you've done something which is even harder and even more rare in the modern world, which is you've shown tremendous loyalty, unbelievable character. You've shown humanity and you've set an example for the club when we were at our weakest, when we needed someone to do that the most. It's all well and good doing it when everything's great. It's all well and good. But doing, being that committed and that loyal and setting that much of an example

• 1:34:16Steven Bartlett?

  and continuing to run on the pitch, but also to be an exceptional human off the pitch when times are hard, I think says even more about a man. So again, on behalf of all the Man United fans, a huge, huge thank you and please sign the contract.

• 1:34:32Speaker 00

  When he's in the table.

• 1:34:34Steven Bartlett?

  Bruno, thank you.

• 1:34:34Speaker 00

  Thank you very much.

• 1:34:35Steven Bartlett?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:34:36Speaker 00

  It was a privilege.

• 1:34:37Steven Bartlett?

  Thank you.