Former Manchester United academy player, Alvaro Fernández Carreras, has completed a bike ride to Galician city Santiago de Compostela on his summer holidays.
The 21 year old spent last season on loan at Granada but after seeing his first team opportunities limited, he moved to Benfica in January.
Despite starting off slowly, the left back eventually gained the confidence of his coach and played more and more towards the end of the season.
He scored his first senior goal in a 3-1 win away over Farense in April and regularly played in the final month of the season.
Fernandez’s fine form convinced Benfica to pay a potential €9 million to make his loan move from Old Trafford permanent as they see him as ideal backup and possessing the potential to be the Eagles’ long-term solution in the position.
The deal lasts until 2029 and he has a release clause of €50 million.
Nonetheless, United clearly still rate the player as they have included three clauses in the deal that will “give them ultimate control over the player’s future, including a buy-back clause, matching rights, and sell-on clause.”
A Bola report that Fernandez has been enjoying his downtime after a hectic twelve months of football and relocation.
The left back “showed himself on social media with friends riding a bike, on a route that took him to Santiago de Compostela.”
He wrote on Instagram, “Objective accomplished” and added some photos of his achievement.
The city of Santiago is culturally very relevant as the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela acts as the destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century.
The Old Town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, like many Spanish cities, it receives huge amounts of tourists every year.
