I’m a Man Utd wonderkid who Cristiano Ronaldo knew about.. when I arrived I thought ‘what am I doing here?’
MANCHESTER UNITED wonderkid Alvaro Fernandez has admitted being clueless when he first arrived in England - but he is now thriving out loan.
The 19-year-old arrived at Old Trafford with such pedigree that even Cristiano Ronaldo had heard of him.
He is tipped for big things, with the full-back now thriving on loan at Preston.
But the left-back has admitted that his 2020 move from Real Madrid to United left him many questions.
He told : "You come to a new country, to a new team. It's time to adapt. It's a bit crazy.
"You think about playing for a year in the Under-18s, calm, adapting, the family away because it was a pandemic and I couldn't go home.
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"I had several colleagues who helped me who were already there, especially [former United youth midfielder] Arnau Puigmal who is now at Almería, in the Spanish first division.
"When he went up to the Under-23s, he was there and with the Under-18s there were [Alejandro] Garnacho, Marc Jurado, Mateo Mejía... they helped me with English.
"The first day I arrived, the coach gave a talk and I thought, 'what am I doing here?'"
The defender had such a good reputation at Real Madrid that even Ronaldo had been informed about him.
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Fernandez said of the 38-year-old: "[I got on] very well with him, he is very nice. With young people he is very top, very close.
"On top of the fact that he spoke Spanish, he knew that I had been in Madrid. They had already told him about me."
Fernandez was voted United's best U23 player last season and was rewarded with a loan move to Preston.
He has made 27 appearances for the Championship side this season and insists the move is "what he wanted."