Dwight Yorke has challenged Bruno Fernandes to guide Manchester United to the Premier League title if he wants to become a club legend. Yorke holds similar status at Old Trafford after being part of a United side which won an unprecedented treble in 1999.
The 49-year-old spent four years at the club, claiming the Premier League title in three of those seasons, and started in the Champions League victory over Bayern Munich – when his former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stole the headlines after coming off the bench to score the winner.
Yorke was full of praise for the job Solskjaer is doing at United after guiding the club to the top of the Premier League table.
Fernandes has been pivotal to the Red Devils’ resurgence, scoring 27 goals and creating 17 assists in his 48 matches since arriving at Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon in January last year.
And Yorke told Sky Sports: “He has come in and really lifted the team in a really massive way. Ole deserves a lot of credit for recognising such a player to bring in.
“He is undoubtedly one of the best players there, if not the best player there at this present time, but there is no point being the best player if you don’t go on to win things at Manchester United.
“You are always going to be judged by the fact you have won things.
“They got to three semi-finals last season and they have got to another semi-final this year and not got over the line. So time is ticking in terms of that and in terms of the results.
“It is not very often that you get to those kinds of positions and he now needs to convert those into trophies – that will be the next steps.
“In terms of where he (Solskjaer) has the team at the moment, every Manchester United fan will be singing with a lot of joy. It is not something we have been able to do in recent times so this is a very good time for the football club and the fans around the world.”
Another signing who has impressed Yorke since his arrival is Edinson Cavani.
The 33-year-old has only started three league games since joining on a free transfer in October but has chipped in with three goals and two assists in 385 minutes.
However, Yorke believes the former Paris Saint-Germain star’s influence off the field has been just as important, comparing him to the likes of Robin van Persie, Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who made major impacts at Old Trafford despite joining in the twilight of their careers.
Yorke said: “You can see what he has brought to the table. Often when you bring in a big personality like Cavani, a younger player is taking that [in].
“We have seen that with Zlatan before and we have seen van Persie come in and do a job and Larsson as well in that category.
“You can see Cavani has come in and done that. What I like about Cavani is he is totally different to the rest of the players. His movement is outstanding and he is a seasoned campaigner. Although he hasn’t played in our league, that hasn’t deterred him and he wants to prove that he can play at this level even at this stage [of his career].
“When you have that combination and that type of player, you are always going to bring along the younger players and they seem to have taken to him.
“It was a great masterstroke from Ole by bringing him in.”
