Bruno Fernandes has been hailed as ‘the player Manchester United have missed for ages’ after the team’s superb run of form since his arrival continued in last weekend’s Manchester derby.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side claimed a surprise 2-0 victory over Man City on Sunday to complete the league double over their blue rivals.The victory boosted United’s bid for Champions League qualification, as they sit in fifth place on 45 points, just three points adrift of fourth place Chelsea.

And Fernandes was front and centre once again for the Red Devils as he claimed another assist.

The Portugal international has now been directly involved in six goals (three goals, three assists) in eight matches since his arrival from Sporting CP in January .His £47million initial transfer fee now looks a bargain due to the impact he has made in his short time at Old Trafford.Former United defender Danny Higginbotham and ex-coach Rene Meulensteen joined talkSPORT on Monday morning to reflect on United’s huge win over Pep Guardiola’s side.And both were full of praise for Fernandes, who is already a hero with supporters.“He’s a player United have missed for so long,” said Higginbotham on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast . “The best players make other players around them better.“Under Solskjaer Man United have done well against the bigger clubs, but I look at the 3-0 win over Watford … a few months ago they probably would have drawn that.“Now what they’ve got now is a player in Fernandes who is known for shooting from outside of the box, therefore the defenders need to push up on him which leaves space in behind, and all of a sudden the likes of Martial and James are getting more time and space to get behind the opposition.