Bruno Fernandes' debut year in the Premier League has been absolutely magnificent.

The Portuguese superstar made his debut against Wolves back on February 1st and has since gone on to become one of the English top-flight's very best.

In 2020, Fernandes scored 18 goals and contributed 14 assists in his 29 Premier League appearances, averaging 1.1 goal involvements per match.

The stats speak for themselves and the Portuguese's brilliance during 2020/21 has been the catalyst behind United unexpectedly entering the title race.

Given his outrageous numbers from midfield and overall impact upon the team, Fernandes has to be in the Premier League Team of 2020, right?

Fernandes in action

Well, not if your name is Steve McManaman. On Wednesday evening, the Liverpool legend was on punditry duty for Amazon Prime and was asked to name his chosen XI on air.

Once he was done, Fernandes' name was nowhere to be seen, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Kevin De Bruyne the three men selected in midfield instead.

McManaman's Premier League Team of 2020

McManaman's XI

So why no Fernandes, Steve?

“I think he’s [Fernandes] been incredible for them, I really do, but my team of the year needed to be with Fabinho and Henderson because they won the league by many, many points." McManaman said when asked to explain why he hadn't picked United's Portuguese talisman, per Mirror.

“Then I’ve flung Kevin De Bruyne in because I just think he’s fantastic. If I have to choose between Kevin De Bruyne as my attacking midfielder, or Bruno Fernandes, De Bruyne wins every time.”

To antagonise United fans more, McManaman finished by aiming a sly dig at Fernandes.

Fernandes celebrates

“I think he’s had an incredible impact for Manchester United, scoring an incredible amount of penalties," the ex-Liverpool man added.

You get the feeling McManaman will now be even less popular at Old Trafford...

Thankfully, both Alan Shearer and Peter Crouch selected Fernandes in their XIs and as a result, the 26-year-old was included in Amazon Prime's Team of 2020.

Amazon's Premier League Team of 2020

Amazon's Team of 2020

A pretty solid XI overall, especially with Fernandes in midfield over Fabinho!