A base position is in the offing for the “annoying little man”? “I’d never turn on the TV for Belgian football.”

Yes, he also thought so himself, really. Peter Bosz recently called him an “irritating little guy.” Although Bosz did refer to an earlier period as well. In the meantime, the talented midfielder trained by PSV is a valued member of the A-squad and is making great strides forward in his development.

Already at the age of seven, Noah Fernandez switched from the youth academy of Lierse SK to that of PSV. So he is almost more Dutch than Belgian. The eighteen-year-old Belgian versatile player enjoys a lot of trust from the club and Peter Bosz, who recently with a wink told that years ago he was an 'arrogant and irritating little man'.

Fernandez can certainly agree with that. "I understand that, I always wanted to laugh and have fun. Here at the first team it’s something different; you can’t play childish football. Here adult football is played and I’ve learned that, although I really enjoy dribbling and making someone crazy on the pitch."

The Belgian youth international experienced his breakthrough last season at PSV. "I think I showed that I can keep up with the boys. I just need to keep it up now. The pressure is off for now; I want to fight for a starting spot. If you train and play together a lot, you quickly get used to each other. I feel a great deal of trust from the club", he continues.

Fernandez played, among other things, for half a season during the previous campaign against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. "The feeling of playing a half against Bayern is something I can hardly describe, but in the end it’s just 22 players running after a ball and it’s all not that exciting. That’s especially the case when you’ve just come in. After that you go along with the level and with the guys, although I have to say that after 45 minutes against Bayern I was really exhausted."

And you can hear it from his accent, at least, from his lack of an accent. “But I can switch very easily, you know,” the young PSV player responds in an extensive interview with Voetbal International.

“When I’m at home, I just speak Flemish. It’s true that I’ve been more in the Netherlands than in Belgium. I also like the Netherlands better, but I do like that I have Belgium as well. That’s where I can retreat, with my people. I’m a family person, so I love being with them in a relaxed, cozy way. I still feel simply like a Belgian, but the Netherlands doesn’t feel like a foreign country,” Fernandez said.

Recently, a photo appeared of the 18-year-old midfielder in a Belgian newspaper, showing a sign with the text “Red Devil in the making”: “I don’t know what the plan is, but since my first call-up I’ve always been with the Belgian youth teams. Even then, I didn’t feel like I was the best and I had doubts about whether I would be selected. In the end, everyone put their trust in me and I showed it. I know I have talent and that I’m good.”

In that case, he actually doesn’t want much to do with the Belgian league. Fernandez doesn’t really see it that way and doesn’t follow Belgian football at all either: “I don’t see myself quickly looking at a Belgian club. Unless it’s Club Brugge–FC Barcelona in the Champions League or something like that, but otherwise I would never turn on the TV for Belgian football. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Belgian match.”