Who is Alvaro Fernandez? Manchester United on bench vs Chelsea

Alvaro Fernandez could finally make his Manchester United senior debut on Thursday night.

Fernandez joined United in the summer of 2020 from Real Madrid's academy on a four-year contract and he was viewed by coaches as an exciting prospect for the future upon his arrival, something which Fernandez is now certainly living up to.

Fernandez plays at left-back and he's made 31 appearances across different levels of United's academy this season, but he's played 22 of those games for Neil Wood's U23s side in the Premier League 2, playing a key role in their strong campaign.

Read more: Six United players ruled out vs Chelsea

Although Fernandez couldn't speak fluent English when he signed for United, the Spanish youngster began intensive English lessons during quarantine two years ago and it's now understood he speaks good English to his teammates at the club.

United gave Fernandez documentaries on the club and Manchester to ease his integration into life at United when he signed from Madrid last year and it seems to have worked. The left-back has gone from strength to strength in the academy.

His stellar performances have been recognised and Fernandez has been training with United's first team at Carrington in recent weeks, which has led Ralf Rangnick to hint it's 'possible' that Fernandez could make his senior debut against Chelsea on Thursday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed debuts to Shola Shoretire, Anthony Elanga and Hannibal Mejbri last season and Rangnick continued that tradition when giving debuts to Zidan Iqbal and Charlie Savage against BSC Young Boys in December.

It now seems Fernandez could be the next academy product to make his debut, however, if he doesn't start against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday, it's