There are not many players who have Real Madrid and Manchester United on their CV at the age of 20 — but that is the case for Alvaro Fernandez.

The Spanish left-back was one of Madrid’s most talented academy prospects from 2017-20. He left during the summer of the latter year in search of greater opportunities at United, but things have not quite gone to plan.

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Fernandez impressed for United’s under-23s, but his senior football since has been limited to one season-long loan spell at Lancashire neighbours Preston North End in the second-tier Championship and another back in La Liga at Granada this campaign.

The Spain Under-21 international felt ready to be part of United’s first-team squad this summer after making 42 appearances for Preston in all competitions, particularly after fellow left-back Tyrell Malacia missed United’s pre-season through injury. The chances of that happening appeared to increase when Luke Shaw also sustained a muscle problem in late August, but Sergio Reguilon’s arrival on loan from Tottenham Hotspur led to Fernandez being sent out again.

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He says manager Erik ten Hag made clear he would not feature in his plans — not that Fernandez has given up on his United dream.

“I sat down to talk but as Gines (Carvajal, his agent) was at a distance, it was a bit more complicated,” Fernandez tells The Athletic. “In the end, it was done at the last minute.

“What message did United give me? That I should go out on loan, that Ten Hag didn’t count on me, that I should continue to gain experience, rhythm, and we’ll see what happens in the future. But it’s clear that football doesn’t end at any club and that you have to keep working. My main objective is to return to United and make a place for myself there.”

Born in the Galicia region in the north west of Spain, Fernandez (who in Spain is also known by his less common maternal surname, Carreras) started out as a striker at hometown club Racing Ferrol, where he once scored 100 goals in a season.

That form persuaded Madrid to sign him in 2017. He won the league in each of his three years in the Spanish capital from under-15 to under-17 level, but thought his first-team opportunities would be limited there. Galicians are known for their ability to prosper abroad — the region saw a mass exodus of workers to the Americas at the end of the 19th century — and Fernandez was no different.

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“I left Madrid when I was a kid,” he says. “I had a contract on the table and decided not to renew and go to Manchester without knowing anything, without my family, going further away from home to a different culture.

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“At that time, we were in lockdown (as the Covid-19 pandemic continued). We had a video call with the Manchester United bosses, the scouts who are here in Spain, and they were translating for me, because I had no idea of English.

“What I saw was that I wanted to take the next step, and I wasn’t going to do it in Madrid.”

United were signing a technically accomplished left-back with an attacking mindset and a fine first touch. He joined as an under-18s player, but quickly rose to the under-23s. Was he given the impression he would get a chance in the first team?

“Yes,” he says. “At that time, there was Brandon Williams and Luke Shaw and there were no other full-backs.

“Manchester (United) is completely different (to Real Madrid). You lived with the professionals — you’d go down for breakfast and you’d bump into (Marcus) Rashford. I was lucky enough to start very well in England. They gave me the best youth player award (reserve team player of the year, in May 2022) and supported me a lot.

“There was (fellow Spanish speaker Juan) Mata, (Edinson) Cavani, (David) de Gea, who pushed me, encouraged me and looked after me a lot. I have no complaints about that. At Madrid, maybe it’s more separate.”

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Fernandez made 47 appearances for United’s reserve team across two seasons, scoring four times and providing 10 assists as a defender, but the step up to the first team did not materialise. He says he had offers from Spain and the Premier League but opted for second-tier Preston, a 45-minute drive north of Manchester, instead.

“I’ve never had any doubts,” he says. “I have people by my side who support me and make me see things as they are. I understand that you have to take it step by step.

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“My objective was to play as many games as possible in professional football. I was very adapted to Spanish football. I was lucky enough to be in Madrid’s youth academy and (there) it was ‘attack, attack and attack’. Since I arrived in England, I have focused more defensively because it was my point to improve.”

Fernandez became a regular for Preston as they finished 12th in the 24-team Championship, six points off a play-off place, although he mostly featured as a left-sided midfielder. He provided six assists, four in the league, and says he loved the experience.

“I improved a lot defensively, physically, in aerial duels,” Fernandez says. “That experience that the second division gives you — going head to head with adults — that’s what I wanted. I loved it, I left very happy. On top of that I had a team, a close-knit family. We had an incredible dressing room and I left a lot of friends behind. Even though I was in Manchester in pre-season, I went to see them.”

Fernandez’s loan club this season find themselves in a more difficult situation.

Granada are second-bottom of La Liga, having collected seven points from their first 14 games, winning only once. This week, they fired coach Paco Lopez, six months after he had led them to the second division title. Next up? Fernandez’s old side Madrid in the Bernabeu tomorrow (Saturday).

The left-back has started just five of his 10 appearances for Granada, so what is he looking for from this spell back in Spain?

“The same as last year: to gain minutes, gain experience in the first division and help the team as much as possible,” he says. “But above all to contribute what I have, which is my game, but with as many minutes as possible.”

That lack of playing time this season has not stopped him shining for Spain Under-21s as they target qualification for next year’s European Championship. During the most recent training camp at the Spanish FA’s Las Rozas base, senior-team boss Luis de la Fuente asked Fernandez to join in with their sessions.

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“I was already in bed, and a guy who works for the federation called me on the phone,” Fernandez says. “He told me, ‘Tomorrow, you will come half an hour before everyone else and you and I will go to Las Rozas and train with the national team’.

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“I told him, ‘Until you go out onto the field with them tomorrow, I don’t believe you’. A year and a half ago, I was in the Manchester United Under-23 team. I like it because you have to trust (young players) — you have to show it.”

Fernandez’s United contract expires after next season, but he is coy when asked whether he would renew if that was offered at the end of this one.

“We’ll see the situation… you know how football goes, it goes day by day,” he says.

“I have two years left in Manchester and for now I’m thinking mainly about Granada. When I have to talk in the summer, or at Christmas, you never know… we’ll see what happens.

“My objective is Manchester, of course, but it’s such a crazy game that maybe next year I’ll be in Germany or Italy or Spain. You never know.”

(Top photo: Fermin Rodriguez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)