Bruno Fernandez has been in great form this season, scoring 16 goals for United in the Premier League, nine goals ahead of second-placed Marcus Rashford, and has a great chance of becoming United's top scorer as a midfielder. However, there was once a defender who became United's top scorer in the league, steve bruce in 1991.
When Ferguson arrived at United in November 1986, the main centre-back was paired with an Irish duo: Paul McGrath plus Kevin Moran. However, Paul McGrath's repeated alcoholism and injury problems prevented him from playing for Manchester United steadily. Seeing this, Ferguson will look for a central defender to strengthen United's defensive strength. Ferguson's favorite target was the England national team to choose Terry Butcher, but the Glasgow Rangers managed to keep him for a big pay raise, and Ferguson had to set his sights on Steve Bruce of Norwich.
In December 1987, United agreed to a transfer fee of £825,000 and Steve Bruce prepared to join Manchester United from Norwich. But when everything was ready, Chairman Edwards suddenly approached Ferguson and brought him bad news: Steve Bruce failed to pass the medical examination, so the transfer was canceled. But Ferguson trusted his instincts and insisted on carrying out the transfer: "Steve Bruce has not tried to miss a game in the past 5 years, how can he have a problem with his body?" Edwards agreed to give it a go, facilitating the transfer.
As a result, Ferguson bought not only a defender, but also an attacking player. In addition to walking into the box with a header on set-pieces, Steve Bruce was also responsible for the penalty shootout. So Steve Bruce became United's top scorer in the league with Mark Hughes with 13 goals in 1990/91, and in addition to other competitions, he scored a total of 19 goals throughout the season, which became a good story. The most important goal was the 1993 tie against Sheffield Wednesday, including a winning goal in "Ferguson time", which laid a solid foundation for United to win the Premier League title for the first time. Finally, as vice-captain, he lifted the Premier League trophy with Robson, ending 26 years of waiting for Manchester United fans.
Steve Bruce played for United for 8 1/2 years, playing for Them in 414 times, scoring 51 goals and 18 assists, scoring more goals than some midfielders. As Robson faded from the main squad due to injury in 1992, Steve Bruce began to become United's captain until leaving Manchester United in 1996 to join Birmingham.
Although he became the captain of the team and became the chief scorer as a defender, Ferguson did not show special kindness to him, and also tried to open a "hair dryer" to him. Once Captain Steve Bruce's wife, Janet, was taken to the hospital for surgery because of a back injury, so Steve Bruce took the phone into the locker room. At halftime, Ferguson opened the "hair dryer" because of the team's poor performance. At this time, the phone just rang, and when everyone was wide-eyed, they realized that it was Steve Bruce. Furious, Ferguson casually threw Steve Bruce's phone on the ground. Steve Bruce tried to explain that his wife had a bad back, but Ferguson did not accept the explanation, angrily replying: "I have 4 bad defenders!" ”（i have 4 bad backs！ ）
Although Steve Bruce has worked tirelessly for Manchester United, he has never played for the England national team. Prior to joining Manchester United, Steve Bruce played in Malta as captain for England B, but he was always insulated from A and did not win the favor of england managers Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor at the time. Until November 1994, England was coached by new manager Terry Venables. Although Steve Bruce was 33 years old at the time, Terry Venables hadn't forgotten him and wanted to call him up for a friendly against Nigeria and give him a chance to play for the national team. However, Steve Bruce did not accept Terry Venables' kindness, and he did not want to be called up for the national team because of sympathy. As a result, Steve Bruce became one of the few captains United had never played for a national team.