Stephen Ireland

Stephen Ireland has revealed that he trained with Manchester United stars Bruno Fernandes and Fred just after the COVID-19 lockdown.

He praised the young Corkman for his attitude and enthusiasm for Milan, saying he had dealt with homesickness well. He lived in Cork and I was in Manchester. It gave me a new lease of life; it was Diogo, Bruno and Fred from United - and every day they were keeping up with their United programmes but for a couple of hours afterwards we were just doing football drills. He said that he was tasked with finding a pitch that the trio could train on, and ended up joining them for a kickabout after their Manchester United programme was complete each day. Heffernan, Ireland says, is regularly training with the first team, and has been getting plenty of game time at U-17 and U-19 level. It was always me and Fred against Diogo and Bruno in the competitions...my back was sore from carrying Fred, I can't lie! [He might come across as a little hot-headed at times during games], but I put that down to him being a winner; he's passionate, he wants to win, and that's how he projects it, unfortunately. Bruno Fernandes was actually a neighbour of mine, and so during lockdown we were living on the same street, me him and Diogo Dalot. I genuinely didn't think they'd have a clue who I was, and then Jamie, the coach, asks Bruno if he knows who I am. They would go even better the following year, reaching the Europa League final and finishing 2nd in the table. In the lead up to his outstanding season, Fernandes trained with former Ireland international Stephen Ireland, in an effort to stay sharp over lockdown. Once football returned in June 2020, Fernandes was one of the Premier League's standout players.