Thierry Henry claims Bruno Fernandes 'killed' Man Utd team-mate in Aston Villa win & coins new nickname for Portuguese midfielder

Fernandes' two assists against Villa took his tally to 16 for the season, a new club record for a single Premier League campaign. He is now chasing the all-time record of 20 assists in one season, a feat currently shared by Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

Henry was full of praise for the Portugal international and gave him a new nickname, saying: "If you can control the speed of your brain you’re going to be faster than anyone on the field and this is what this guy has in abundance.

"I’ve said it before, he doesn’t play football he thinks football. He did it so well again at the weekend. In the second half he was like the kid at school who’s better than everyone, he just got on the ball and passed it forward whenever he could. My name for him now is Braino Fernandes because this guy thinks on the pitch and I love it."

Fernandes was also seen furiously berating young winger Amad Diallo late in the contest. Henry highlighted the incident as a sign of true leadership, noting that Fernandes remained demanding of his peers even with the game comfortably won.

"He wanted the ball [off Amad Diallo], he wanted the ball," Henry added. "He gets the ball after but he’s flat-footed by that point. He wanted the ball from Amad Diallo, not Manuel Ugarte, and I wanted to show that because this is at 3-1 with just a few minutes to go.

"He killed Amad Diallo for at least seven seconds! That’s just him, he will argue with his Dad or with anyone but he still finds a way. Even when he wins he’s like that, he demands excellence from himself and his teammates. For me, that’s a real leader. Look at him, he’s still going at Amad! He didn’t like it."

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