Former Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler has apologised to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes after always deliberately pronouncing his name wrong.
Tyler has enjoyed a long and successful career in the gantry and became renowned as the voice of the Premier League before being replaced as the Sky Sports lead commentator by Peter Drury last summer. The 78-year-old has worked behind the mic for other broadcasters, such as NBC.
He has since spoken about the difficulties of pronouncing player names and has now admitted to deliberately saying Fernandes because the authentic pronunciation is too difficult for English listeners. Tyler even then offered an apology to Fernandes, who has been at United since January 2020.
Speaking on his The Joy Of Football podcast, Tyler explained: "Portuguese is really difficult. The Manchester United number eight is Bruno Fer-nanj. And if I said that, I'd be laughed out of the commentary box, wouldn't I? But that's what it is.
"We get sent… it's very good of the Premier League, they get the players – who must get fed up of doing it every year – they say their name to the camera so that the world broadcasters can get it. And Bruno comes up and goes 'Bruno Fer-nanj' and we all call him 'Bruno Fer-nan-des'. Bruno, my apologies!"
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When asked if the elite commentators discuss about saying names in the same way, Tyler admitted: "There's a bit, but I think we all feel [differently]. Some are very linguistically good, some totally find it really difficult and want to anglicise everything. But if you can get access to the player and ask the player.
"The viewers need consistency really, but when you’ve spoken to a player and he’s made it quite clear that that’s how he wants his name said, you can’t really be responsible for the other commentators if they choose to do it a different way. I think everyone knows in the end.
Martin Tyler has explained why he has pronounced Bruno Fernandes' name wrong"At least now we’ve got the names on the back of the shirts haven’t we."
Fernandes moved to United from Sporting CP for a fee in the region of £67million, the club's fifth most expensive ever arrival at the time. He enjoyed a drastic impact during his first six months at the club, spearheading their push for the Champions League with 12 goals in his first 22 appearances.
The Portugal international struck 28 goals and added 17 assists in 58 matches during his first full season at Old Trafford and had firmly established himself as a fans' favourite. Fernandes has continued a similar vein of form throughout his United career, even if the numbers haven't reached those same heights.
Last July, Fernandes was named as the new United captain as replacement to Harry Maguire, who was stripped by Erik ten Hag from his role. Although the Red Devils have endured a quite miserable campaign, Fernandes has still impressed, creating the most chances in the Premier League and scoring 10 goals for himself.
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