Manuel Fernandes was born in Amadora, a small town not far from Lisbon. Day by day he spent most of his time kicking the ball around with his friends on the streets of his home town and soon joined the youth football academy of Benfica. He went through all staged within the club and finally made his long-expected first-team appearance in 2003. The next game he managed to score his first goal becoming the youngest ever goalscorer of the club. A year later he became regular first-team member playing in the midfield, shoulder to shoulder with Armando Petit. That season Benfica won the Portuguese Primeira Liga for the first time in eleven years. The 2004/2005 season was not too successful, as Manuel was haunted by inguinal hernia and as a result missed most of the season. However, he netted his first UEFA Champions League goal that year, scoring the equalizer against Villarreal.
In 2006 he was loaned to the English club Portsmouth, where he failed to impress and wasn’t allowed to play more than two fixtures in a row. Six months later he returned to Benfica, signed new long-term agreement and was sent on loan back to England, this time to Everton FC. The new club was delighted with the player’s performance and decided to sign the footballer on a permanent basis, but clubs failed to negotiate transfer terms. As a result Fernandes signed six-year contract with Spanish giants Valencia on 26 August 2007. The Spanish side paid the 18 million Euro transfer fee for the player. Manuel spent four seasons in Spain, taking part in 56 games and scoring twice.
In 2010 Fernandes moved on a loan basis to Beşiktaş. According to the agreement the Turkish club had an option to buy the player in the January transfer window. On January 2011 Fernandes signed the full-time three-year contract with the Istanbul club.
Starting from 2003, Manuel played for the Portugal national team at different levels. He was a regular starter during the UEFA U-21 Championship 2007 and helped Portugal to gain the right to participate in the Olympics. He is regularly called to the Portugal national team since 2005.
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