Team of Tomorrow Tuesday: Manuel Fernandes

If there ever was a poster boy for a career that began so huge and then got hampered over and over again by injury and circumstance, Manuel Fernandes would be that guy.

At a mere eighteen years of age, Fernandes broke into regular play with Benfica’s first team and began learning his craft alongside Portuguese international Petit. After domestic success and some European failures, Fernandes went under the knife to fix a hernia and the setbacks began.

For the 06/07 season, he was loaned to English side Portsmouth where he continued to heal his groin. Due to the lack of definitive progress, he never really saw steady action. Also, a clause in Fernandes’ contract that required Portsmouth to buy him outright if they played him in consecutive games saw Fernandes on the bench every other match. With both clubs and Fernandes frustrated by the lack of progress, he was sent back to Benfica and then immediately loaned back to England but this time to Everton for the remainder of the season.

He scored two goals in nine matches but again never really was able to make a definitive leap up in ability. Since his sporting rights were half owned by Benfica and half owned by another independent company (think a Carlos Tevez-esque mess), Everton couldn’t settle on an agreeable fee with both Benfica and the other company. Instead of selling him to Everton, Benfica turned around and sold him outright to Valencia.

In a further bizarre / odd occurrence, Fernandes was loaned by Valencia back to Everton this past January with a buy out clause after playing in only three La Liga matches. The reality of the situation is that Fernandes hasn’t consistently been fit for any extended period of time since his hernia operation.

His escapades across European football aside, unless he catches a good spell of health and gets back on an upward track, he’s got plenty of competition in the Portuguese midfield, at all levels. He currently plays on the U21 team and at times looks lost and other times looks like a man among boys. Fernandes should progress to the senior team once he enjoys a run of good play and promising health. Until then, he may end up being one of a long line of players who started off looking like world beaters and then, for whatever circumstances or reasons, never cemented themselves a place on the world’s biggest stage.

Photo: UEFA.com