Our dear Emmanuel Fernandez – the lad born in England on the 20th of November 2001 (now a ripe old 24 years of age) – finds himself presently lacing up his boots as a defender for Rangers. What is he, 1.94m (6ft 4in) tall and weighing in at a tidy 84kg (13st 3lb)? Yes, you heard it. That's our number 37 for you if you haven't had the pleasure of making his acquaintance yet. Transfermarkt puts a humble £7.5 million price tag on his head.
It all began, or so they say, somewhere in July 2021, when young Fernandez swapped the illustrious dirt pitches of Ramsgate in the English Lower Leagues for the slightly less grimy surface of Peterborough United. Did he take the League One by storm? Not quite. Debut season saw him play a solitary match, the stuff dreams are made of, really.
Come March 2023, our intrepid defender was uprooted from Peterborough and shoved into League Two's Barnet on loan. My heart bleeds. Yet he somehow managed to weather this adversity and returned to Peterborough in all his glory by June 2023. Interestingly enough, his return coincided with a strange case of déjà vu – another, you guessed it, single appearance was all he managed in the League One.
Time went on and after a couple of presumably arduous years, Emmanuel Fernandez shuffled up to cross the border and dawn the Rangers' blue by July 2025. Undisclosed fee? I'm sure it was all very hush-hush and under the table. Anyway, in his current season at Rangers, our hero rose like a phoenix and made a whopping 20 first team appearances, even managing to net the ball five times. What an improvement!
And what's this? The lad's been a busy bee. League Cup, Scottish Cup, Europa League – he's ticked all the boxes in the 2025 - 2026 season, even snuck in a goal in the League Cup. Who is he impressing this time? One can only wonder.