IT’S safe to assume Jim Ratcliffe was not talking about Bruno Fernandes when he groaned about certain Manchester United players being ‘overpaid and not good enough’.
In fact amid all the job cuts and costs being slashed at Old Trafford, they might have to find a way to give the skipper a pay rise.
Time and time again it is the Portuguese talisman who comes to their rescue. Where would the Red Devils be without him?
With their season on a knife edge after an early penalty put Real Sociedad in command, Fernandes was the coolest man on the park – not once, but twice.
He scored two spot-kicks of his own – one in each half – to edge Ruben Amorim’s men into the quarter-finals against their 10-man opponents.
Then he claimed the match ball by latching onto Alejandro Garnacho’s pass to smash his effort into the corner.
Thanks to him a chaotic campaign is still alive – and could still result in an unlikely spot in the Champions League in September.
Just five games now separate United from Europa League glory and a ticket back to the top table – if Fernandes carries on playing like this, you never know.
The riches that come with that would be a big boost to the Old Trafford coffers – and Amorim’s transfer kitty.
Ratcliffe has had plenty to say this week – talking about the situation they walked into last year at United and also some of the players they ‘inherited’.
Yet three of those he name-checked in his wide-ranging interview – Andre Onana, Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund – were all picked to start in a game that was pivotal to their season.
As Amorim said pre-match, all of them had the chance to prove themselves to the billionaire Ineos magnate.
United wasted the chance to all but seal a quarter-final spot in the first leg in San Sebastian last week as they tired and allowed the Spanish side back into it.
And the visitors started here like they were determined to make the most of that reprieve.
Matthijs De Ligt looked to have just beaten Mikel Oyarzabal to a cross from Artiz Elustondo – and in any case the offside flag went up.
But there were a few appeals for a penalty among the travelling fans and the VAR told ref Benoit Bastien to have a look at his monitor.
That showed the Euro 2024 winner had drawn a foul from the United defender.
Just as he did last week, the Spanish forward scored emphatically from the spot – sending Onana the wrong way.
Only 10 minutes gone and United were behind to a team currently 11th in the Spanish league.
Given United’s dismal record here this season, heads could easily have gone down but spurred on by the skipper, they hit back.
Fernandes rolled a cross into the area and Hojlund looked certain to score until he was shoved in the back by Igor Zubeldia.
It was a clear penalty and the Sociedad captain was perhaps a little bit fortunate to escape with only a yellow card.
Despite the pressure, Fernandes confidently stroked home his 13th goal of the season beating Alex Remiro from the spot.
He wasn’t finished there though – turning provider with a pin-point corner which Patrick Dorgu volleyed onto the top of the net.
The Portuguese then played a sweeping pass into the path of the Danish new boy who probably had more time and space than he realised – firing straight at Remiro.
Another chance went begging as Joshua Zirkzee sent a low cross into the area that was backheeled by Hojlund but drifted just wide of the post.
The £72 million forward has not scored in his last 20 appearances before this but was contributing plenty to an improved United display.
United probably felt they should have been ahead at the break – but within five minutes of the restart, they were.
Artiz Elustondo body checked Dorgu as the January signing tried to get past him and it was enough for the French ref to point to the spot.
The Sociedad defender pleaded his innocence and to be fair it was hard to see how he could have got out of the way – but there was not enough evidence to overturn it.
And once again Fernandes was the coolest man in the stadium as he slotted home from 12 yards once more.
United were now on the front foot and the visitors made their task even more difficult when they went down to 10 men just after the hour.
Jon Aramburu had only been on the pitch seven minutes – sent on as the bench were worried Zubeldia could earn a second yellow card.
But he chopped down Dorgu as he looked to race clear on goal and was adjudged to be the last man – even though the Dane had a long way still to run.
Zirkzee nodded a good chance wide and there were still some nerves with United holding such a slender advantage.
But all those were blown away as Garnacho was unselfish for once – slipping a clever pass through to Fernandes who fired a low shot past Remiro.
There was still time for another in stoppage time as Hojlund pulled a cross back for Fernandes’ countryman Diogo Dalot to lash home.
That completed a great night for Amorim and his Portuguese men of four.
