I’m a Man Utd wonderkid who Cristiano Ronaldo knew about.. when I first arrived here I thought ‘what am I doing here?’

MANCHESTER UNITED wonderkid Alvaro Fernandez has admitted not having a clue when he first arrived in England – but he is now thriving out loan.

The 19-year-old arrived at Old Trafford with such pedigree that even Cristiano Ronaldo had heard of him.

Alvaro Fernandez is enjoying his time in the second-tier with PrestonRex

He is tipped for big things at the club with the full-back now thriving on loan at Preston.

But the left-back has admitted that his 2020 move from Real Madrid to United left him many questions.

He told AS: “You come to a new country, to a new team. It’s time to adapt. It’s a bit crazy. You think about playing for a year in the Under-18s, calm, adapting, the family away because it was a pandemic and I couldn’t go home.

“I had several colleagues who helped me who were already there. Especially [former United youth midfielder] Arnau Puigmal who is now at Almería, in First Division. And very good. 

“When he went up to the Under-23s, he was there and with the Under-18s there were [Alejandro] Garnacho, Marc Jurado, Mateo Mejía… They helped me with English. The first day I arrived, the coach gave a talk and I thought, ‘what am I doing here?”

The defender had such a good reputation at Real Madrid that even Ronaldo had been informed about him.

Fernandez said he was a fan of the 38-year-old star. He said: “[I got on] very well with him, he is very nice. With young people he is very top, very close. 

“On top of the fact that he spoke Spanish, he knew that I had been in Madrid. They had already told him about me.”

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Fernandez was voted United‘s best U23 player last season and was rewarded with a loan move to Preston.

He has made 26 appearances for the Championship side this season and insists the move is “what he wanted.”

Preston are currently 12th in the table, eight points off the play-offs.