I was on the edge of coming to Watford on loan, because it’s the same owners [as Udinese].
We were getting to the edge of the transfer window. They [Udinese] had just bought me and obviously they had a big squad of players.
They were like, ‘We’re going to send you to Watford, you’re going to be there playing for them’.
I was like, ‘What have I done? I wasn’t good enough?’
They called me to the hotel to pack my stuff, because it was the last days of the window. I packed my stuff.
I was with my girlfriend and she was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to go anywhere else and you’re going to succeed’. And I said, ‘But why can’t I make it here? What did I do wrong?’
Why is the manager not looking at me the same and looking at other players? In my head I was like, ‘Have I done something wrong?’
I have not showed my full potential, I have not shown that I’m good enough to be in this team.
And I don’t know why, but in the middle of all this the sporting director [Cristiano Giaretta] called me again.
He said, ‘Bruno, you can’t go anymore. The manager wants you to stay. He says he loves you, he loves your attitude. He wants you to learn from him and understand how he wants to play. He says you might not play much this season but he’s pretty sure you are the type of player that will succeed at this club’.
Then we had many conversations and he was so good for me. He [Guidolin] was like a father figure.
Bruno Fernandes, Diary of a CEO