"A real concern" - Pundit suggests ten Hag should drop £45m Man United star following Newcastle draw

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has suggested that Man United should drop Bruno Fernandes after their 0-0 draw against Newcastle on Sunday.

The Red Devils entertained their visitors at Old Trafford as they looked to record their third victory in eight days. They had previously defeated Everton and Omonia Nicosia.

The two sides, however, could not be separated. But there was controversial circumstances involved, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring from a Newcastle free-kick only to see his goal ruled out.

United boss Erik ten Hag was furious after the game, stating: "I don't have a comment on that. Everybody has seen it. I shared that with [the match officials]. Everyone has seen what happened today on the pitch."

Ronaldo also had a penalty appeal turned down, following a coming together with Kieran Trippier as he was preparing to shoot.

Whilst the majority of the attention was on the two incidents involving Ronaldo, Danny Murphy, speaking on Match of the Day 2, discussed the form of Fernandes.

Danny Murphy suggests United should drop Fernandes, suggests replacement

Murphy explained: "It's a real concern for one of their most creative players [lack of goal involvements].

"I think, when Christian Eriksen comes back, he [Ten Hag] may have to take him out of the firing line for a little while and put Eriksen in, [to] give him a little kick up the bottom to see if they can improve his numbers.

"Every player needs that now and again."

Fernandes signed for United from Sporting Lisbon in January 2019, and went on to score 26 goals and provide 19 assists in the league in his first one-and-a-half seasons with the club.

He also notched 10 goals and six assists in the Premier League last season - but hasn't been able to live up to those numbers thus far in the current campaign. the Portugal international has one goal and one assist in nine league games this term, and hasn't scored or assisted in his last seven games in all competitions.

Whether Fernandes requires a spell out of the team to recapture his best form, or will get back to peak goal involvement levels in the upcoming weeks, remains to be seen.