PLAYER PROFILE

Henrik Pedersen

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'10

Weight: 10st 12lbs

Date of Birth: 1986-02-05 Lisbon, Portugal

Henrik Pedersen

Manuel Fernandes is a product of Benfica's youth system and made his first-team debut during the 2003-04 season, under then coach Jose Antonio Camacho.

He became a first-team regular the following season under Giovanni Trapattoni's stewardship as the Lisbon-based club won their first Portuguese title in 11 years.

The youngster has also represented his country at senior level, playing in the friendly international defeat to the Republic of Ireland in February 2005.

In August 2006, Portsmouth completed the loan signing of Fernandes with a view to a permanent deal. Pompey boss Harry Redknapp had been chasing the highly-rated 20-year-old for much of the summer.

However, after a handful of appearances, Portsmouth baulked at the idea of paying £12m for him, which they would have automatically had to do if he started three consecutive Premier League games, so despite scoring on his debut against Mansfield in the Carling Cup, he slipped out of contention.

In January 2007 he returned to England with a new loan deal at Everton and returned again a year later.