This article is part of Football FanCast's In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets...

There were a number of transfer sagas throughout the 2019 window.

And one such story was definitely the one surrounding Bruno Fernandes' potential move to Manchester United.

The Red Devils were after their man for quite a while and even though the had a reported release clause of £31m in his contract, Sporting valued their man at £60m.

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In the end, not only did the now 25-year-old midfielder stay put back in Portugal, but he also signed a brand new contract just recently, which will undoubtedly make him at least a slightly less attainable target in the near future.

But looking back at that summer when the Red Devils ultimately failed to land their target, it really does seem like a huge opportunity was missed by Ed Woodward and co.

This is especially true with Paul Pogba's delicate situation as the Frenchman appears to be edging ever closer to leaving Old Trafford and never donning the red Manchester shirt ever again.

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Despite all of that, Pogba was very much among their top performers in 2018/19 as he managed to tally 13 goals and nine assists in the Premier League. But Fernandes can more than just match those figures.

In the previous campaign, the 25-year-old netted 20 goals and 13 assists, albeit in a slightly less competitive environment that is the Liga NOS.

Still, as we delve deeper into the stats, Fernandes' player profile just keeps getting better.

His 3.6 shots and 3.2 key passes per game outperform Pogba's three and 1.6 respectively, while his defensive shift is also somewhat more impressive.

The Portuguese star has tallied 1.7 tackles and 0.4 interceptions per game compared to the Frenchman's 1.3 and 0.5 per game.

The only thing that Pogba has in his favour is security on the ball as he is the better passer of the two with 82.8% accuracy, which is better than Fernandes' 75.1%.

With all of that being said, it seems that Solskjaer really could've used the Sporting man in the 2019/20 season and this definitely seems like a missed opportunity in hindsight, especially with the huge void that Pogba's departure might leave behind.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the Red Devils will go back for their target in the near future.

Elsewhere, Manchester United have seemingly dropped their interest in Juventus' out-of-favour veteran...