Bruno Fernandes

Early career

Fernandes began his youth career at local club Infesta. Growing up, Fernandes was offered a youth contract at Porto's academy, but he went to local rivals Boavista, who offered him transportation to training, with his parents being unable to take him to Porto on a daily basis. Fernandes played most of his youth football with Boavista, starting his career as a centre-back, before being converted to an attacking midfielder at the age of 15, following a loan to Pasteleira.

Spell in Italy

Novara (2012–2013)

On 27 August 2012, he joined Novara in Italy. Fernandes initially struggled in his new life in Italy, after suffering from homesickness and also had problems learning Italian. After his girlfriend moved to Italy, Fernandes quickly learned the language and began settling in the country, being nicknamed the "Maradona of Novara" and the "Mini Rui Costa". After only a few weeks with the youth sides, Fernandes was promoted to the first team in Serie B, and went on to appear in slightly more than half of the league games during the 2012–13 season, helping his team to fifth place and the promotion play-offs.

Udinese and Sampdoria (2013–2017)

In summer 2013, Serie A clubs Inter Milan and Juventus wanted to sign him, but instead, Fernandes decided to sign for Udinese in a co-ownership deal, which promised him first-team opportunities. He made his debut in Serie A on 3 November, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–3 home…

2012–2017: Youth level

With the Portugal under-20s, Fernandes participated in the 2014 Toulon Tournament. In this competition, he played four out, scoring against Chile in a group stage match, helping Portugal to a third-place finish. Fernandes represented Portugal at under-19, under-20, under-21 and under-23 levels, for a total of 28 caps. Prior to his international debut, he was named captain of the under-21 team by coach Rui Jorge. He scored four goals and provided four assist in Portugal under-21s qualification campaign, helping them to qualify for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. In June, Fernandes took part in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, helping Portugal to a group stage finish, and scoring a goal against Serbia in the opening match. Fernandes represented Portugal in the 2016 Summer Olympics. He started every game, as the team reached the quarter-finals.

2017–2018: Senior and World Cup debuts

Overlooked for selection by Portugal during his spell in Italy, Fernandes was first chosen on 28 August 2017, replacing the injured Pizzi for 2018 World Cup qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Hungary to be played the next month, although he did not play in either match. Fernandes won his first full cap on 10 November 2017, replacing Manuel Fernandes for the last 34 minutes of the 3–0 friendly win over Saudi Arabia in Viseu. He was then selected by Fernando Santos for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He scored his first…

Fernandes was born in Maia, Metropolitan Area of Porto. Growing up, he supported Boavista and Manchester United. During his childhood, Fernandes used to play football on the streets with his older brother Ricardo, who was also a professional football player. His father, who had emigrated to Switzerland, wanted Fernandes to move with him, but he refused, due to the standard of Swiss football at the time.

When Fernandes moved to Italy at age 18 to join Novara, he was joined there by childhood sweetheart Ana Pinho; they married in 2015. The couple have a daughter (January 2017) and a son (September 2020). He has tattoos on both of his arms with the number 8, in which he tributes to his birth date and to his father, who was also a footballer and wore the number 8 shirt, during his playing career, the letter F symbolising his surname and the number 23 as a tribute to his debut with the Portugal national football team, when he was aged 23. Fernandes is multilingual; apart from his native Portuguese, he is fluent in Spanish, English, and Italian. He also speaks some French. Fernandes also has a brother named Ricardo who plays in the ninth tier of English football for Roffey.