In Portugal’s 3-1 victory over Poland in the Nations League, a post-match moment between Bruno Fernandes and former Manchester United academy player Maxi Oyedele stole the spotlight.
Bruno Fernandes swapped shirts with the Polish youngster, not on the pitch, but what looks to be the media area where interviews take place.
The 19-year-old Oyedele made his debut for Poland, marking a special occasion in his young career. and swapping shirts with Fernandes would have made it all the more memorable.
Bruno posted this moment on his Instagram story and captioned: “Happy to see you doing great things. You deserve all the best kid.”
Hailed as a “starboy” in Manchester United’s youth ranks, Oyedele joined the club at the age of eight. He was dubbed to be one of United’s brightest academy talents.
Although Oyedele impressed in the pre season games, even picking up an assist, newly appointed sporting director Dan Ashworth and manager Erik ten Hag sold the youngster for what looks to be a bargain sum of £500k to Legia Warsaw.
The decision to move away from United, where first team minutes looked bleak, seems to be the right one for the youngster who’s got significant minutes in the Polish league and also started in Legia Warsaw’s Conference League win against Real Betis.
During his time at the United academy, Oyedele was a regular in the Under-18s and Under-23s in recent years, the midfielder has also represented Poland at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 level.
His current manager Goncalo Feio spoke about Oyedele’s ability on the ball and his decision making, at 5’11” he’s also gives strong physical presence in the midfield area.
It’s all these qualities and the ability to play regular minutes that give him a “starboy” tag, and with the Man United’s season has panned out so far they could have surely done with him in the midfield to try and plug in some gaps.