Bruno Fernandes is apparently Manchester United's penalty taker, have you heard?

The Red Devils' January signing has become something of an internet meme over the last few months for seemingly taking, and duly scoring, a penalty in every other game he plays.

Naturally, it's hardly Fernandes' fault - what do we expect him to do: miss them? - but the sheer amount of penalties that United have been accruing has inevitably led to jokes and jibes.

Fernandes' penalty record

In fact, the Red Devils actually broke the Premier League record for the most penalties awarded in a single season as the club wound up with no less than 14 spot kicks.

The likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford took some of those early 12-yard efforts, but Fernandes has since inherited the reins and hasn't missed a single one.

Astonishingly, Fernandes has now taken nine penalties for United despite having only played 25 goals for the club and his latest came in dramatic fashion during the win at Brighton.

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Fernandes wins it at Brighton

Events at the Amex Stadium couldn't possibly have fitted the social media narrative any better with United becoming the first team in Premier League history to win a penalty after the final whistle.

Nevertheless, it was a clear handball from Neal Maupay and Fernandes made no mistake, so the Portuguese midfielder is officially off the mark for the 2020/21 campaign.

It really makes you wonder how many penalty goals Fernandes will have to his name come May and if your name is Peter Crouch, then your prediction is simple: lots and lots.

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Fernandes... for the Golden Boot???

That's because the former Liverpool striker hilariously claimed, albeit jokingly, in his Daily Mail Q&A section this week that he's backing Fernandes to win the Golden Boot.

Andrew Hidges asked Crouch via Twitter: "How many penalties will Manchester United get this season?"

Crouch replied: "Well, Andrew, I have backed Bruno Fernandes to win the Golden Boot and I have done so on the basis that I will hear 'penalty to Manchester United' once a week from now until May.

"There are 38 games, so I'm saying 38 penalties. Do you agree? I found the spot-kick they got at Brighton on Saturday absolutely remarkable.

"I'm not sure how I would have felt to be on a side who thought they had a point at the final whistle, but then saw VAR come into play when the post-match handshake was going on. How does that work?"

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Most penalties justified

Crouch is most certainly in the minority when it comes to disagreeing with United's penalty and like it or not, awarding a spot kick after the full-time whistle is well within the rules.

In terms of poking fun at United's penalty record, the Old Trafford faithful shouldn't take things to heart because we deemed at least seven of Fernandes' nine penalties were stonewall decisions.

And although challenging for the Golden Boot seems a little extreme, Fernandes is rather crazily on course to have 36 penalties to his name by the time he reaches a century of United games.

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He couldn't... could he?