Bruno Fernandes has scored 111 goals in 335 appearances for Manchester United, but his return this season has dropped sharply from the form that earned him PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26, just seven weeks ago.
The Manchester United captain had already won the Premier League and Football Writers’ versions of the award, recognising his phenomenal contribution to his side’s unexpected third-place finish. He scored nine goals and claimed 21 assists, breaking a Premier League record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.
Over the final 11 games of last season, Fernandes either scored or created 12 of United’s 21 goals. In the seven-game run that returned United to Europe’s elite club competition after a two-year absence, the 31-year-old was involved in nine of their 12 goals. Statistically, it was remarkable, reminiscent of Eric Cantona in the 1995-96 title-winning campaign, when he scored in six successive games, five of them when United scored only once.
Speaking at the Manchester Opera House, Fernandes told an appreciative audience: “It was a special season for me. I am very proud.
“But we don’t play tennis. We don’t play just for ourselves. We play for a team, we play for a club, we play for the fans. There is nothing more special than that.”
Those words carry particular weight now, because this season’s figures are far less impressive.
A difficult start to the season
Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six Premier League games. He has three goals and one assist, all coming in the second game of the campaign against Ipswich, which remains United’s only league win so far.
The numbers are better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created none. However, he was playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred at that point.
This season Fernandes is taking more shots than at any time in his United career apart from his best campaign, with an average of 3.3 per game. His best was 3.5 in 2020-21. Yet his 0.8 shots on target per game is joint-second lowest of his time at Old Trafford. His chance creation, at 2.5 per game, is the second lowest of his spell at the club and well down on the 4.0 he managed last season.
Most startlingly, he has created just one “big chance” so far this season, the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Last season, he averaged one per game.
Fernandes’ figures, along with his general involvement, go some way to explaining why United have collected just six points from their opening six games. It is their worst start to a league campaign in 40 years, when Ron Atkinson was sacked to make way for Sir Alex Ferguson.
But is Fernandes a reason for United’s malaise, or a symptom of it?
Fitness and form
There is uncertainty over the Portugal playmaker’s fitness. Fernandes rarely misses a game, but he was left out of the recent Nations League match against Norway, with national team boss Jorge Jesus saying the former Sporting man was “playing through pain”. He was fit enough to return for the final two internationals of the break, and he played the full 90 minutes in the 4-0 Champions League win over Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK.
United manager Michael Carrick does not see it as an issue as he prepares his side to face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
“He was carrying something but that happens a lot,” Carrick said. “Players play with issues.
“It’s not ideal but it is manageable. Bruno is able to play. That is the commitment he has got.
“He is pretty much over it, was really bright in training this morning and is looking forward to the game.”
The missing pieces
Towards the end of last season, when Fernandes was at his most prolific, Benjamin Sesko was a regular in the number nine role and veteran Brazilian Casemiro anchored United’s midfield. Of the nine league goals Sesko has scored in 2026, Fernandes created four. He also set up four of the final five goals Casemiro scored for United from 1 February onwards.
Beyond goals, the absence of Sesko and Casemiro is clearly being felt. Casemiro’s departure for Inter Miami in the summer cannot fully explain United’s low running numbers, although his positioning and game knowledge were of a high standard. With him in midfield, Fernandes could take risks in the knowledge that United would not be overrun on the counter-attack if he lost the ball.
As for Sesko, his fresh shin injury extends a lack of involvement that is keenly felt, and for which there is, as yet, no end date.
The club’s power brokers ignored calls for more striking support in the summer and instead reinforced Carrick’s midfield. A plan to cover Sesko’s initial absence by using Mbeumo as a number nine was scrapped when Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury just before the opening game at Hull. Matheus Cunha was given the job instead, but he repeatedly dropped deep, into the space Fernandes was occupying, and the pair never found an effective way of dealing with it.
For Fernandes, the set-up feels restrictive. He is not a player who lacks confidence, but his decision-making appears to be suffering. Against Tottenham at the weekend, it took him an incredible 23 minutes just to complete a pass.
On Monday, as he looked ahead to the Champions League meeting with Atletico, Carrick said no-one was “guaranteed” a place in his team. He surrounded that with enough caveats to suggest that leaving out his captain is not in his thinking.
United must improve, and that means Fernandes must do the same.
“He’s a top player, Bruno,” Carrick said.
“Sometimes things don’t quite go for you. Sometimes you have a spell of that.
“But he’s done some incredible things for this football club and he will do the same in the future, there’s no doubt about that.”