Manchester United Star Bruno Fernandes Pays Tribute As ex-Barcelona Man Jeremy Mathieu Is Forced To Quit

Bruno Fernandes saluted former Sporting CP team-mate Jeremy Mathieu after the former LaLiga and Champions League winner announced his retirement

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Updated on: 25 June 2020 3:40 pm

Former Barcelona and France star Jeremy Mathieu has retired after suffering a knee injury in training at Sporting CP - news that has left Bruno Fernandes "crestfallen". (More Football News)

Manchester United midfielder Fernandes paid tribute to his former Sporting team-mate who quit after damaging the medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Wednesday, calling Mathieu "a centre-back with the quality of a number 10".

Mathieu, 36, won only five caps for France but shone in spells with Valencia and Barcelona, playing for the Catalan giants from 2014 to 2017 before joining Sporting.

At Barcelona, he won two LaLiga titles plus the Champions League in 2014-15, coming on as a late substitute in the 3-1 final win over Juventus.

Portuguese newspaper Record quoted a statement from Mathieu, in which he said: "I thought I would end my career in another way, but it is part of football. I wanted to finish on the pitch so badly, but destiny decided otherwise.

"Anyway, I spent 19 years living my life with intense passion, with ups and downs, joy and crying, victories and defeats and incredible trophies."

Mathieu played in France with Sochaux and Toulouse before moving to Spain with Valencia.

Fernandes posted on Instagram: "I had news that left me sad and crestfallen.

"I learned that the best centre-back I ever had as a team-mate was injured and decided to end a career full of titles and unforgettable moments."

View this post on Instagram
Hoje tive uma notícia que me deixou triste e cabisbaixo, soube que o melhor central que alguma vez tive como colega de equipa se lesionou e assim decidiu dar o fim a uma carreira recheada de títulos e momentos inesquecíveis ! O velhinho como todos o conheciam no seio sportinguista teve a infelicidade de se lesionar e assim não acabar a carreira como tanto merecia. Foram dois anos e meio contigo, dois anos e meio de aprendizagem, dois anos e meio de eternas apostas nos treinos para ver quem fazia mais golos de livre, dois anos e meio a ver magia sair dos pés de um central, sim de um central. Aquele que normalmente se limita a defender pela posição, mas ele era mais do que isso. Era um central com qualidade de 10 e velocidade de um extremo! Tenho pena de não voltar a ver aqueles sprints de uma ponta do campo a outra, aquele passe no lateral e ser ele a passar nas costas com um sprint que só terminava na outra ponta do campo ð Triste por não poder estar no jogo de despedida que infelizmente esta lesão te tirou mas que espero que mais tarde tenhas a oportunidade de te despedir do relvado como mereces! Como falamos pessoalmente, fica o nosso jogo de golfe marcado e logo após isso um desafio de livres para acabarmos praticamente como começou ðªð¼ Obrigado pelas lágrimas na final da taça de Portugal que me demonstraram o que é ter amor ao jogo e que todas as conquistas contam com se fosse a primeira ð Aproveita a tua família, os jogos de golfe e sobretudo para recuperares! Um abraço velhinho ðð¼ @iamathieujeremy
A post shared by Bruno Fernandes (@brunofernandes.10) on Jun 24, 2020 at 3:17pm PDT

Fernandes added: "I had two and a half years with you, two and a half years of apprenticeship, two and a half years of eternal bets in training to see who scored the most free-kicks, two and a half years to see magic come from the feet of a centre-back, yes from a centre-back."

He stressed Mathieu "was a centre-back with the quality of a number 10 and extreme speed" and said he intended to reunite with him on the golf course.

Fernandes said: "Thanks for the tears in the final of the Taca de Portugal that showed me what it is like to love the game and how all victories are as important as the first."