Bruno Fernandes has struggled to recapture the form that made him PFA Player of the Year, with Manchester United collecting just six points from their opening six Premier League games, their worst league start in 40 years.
It is only seven weeks since Fernandes stood in the Manchester Opera House and spoke of his pride at winning the PFA award for 2025-26. The United captain had already claimed the Premier League and Football Writers’ versions of the honour, recognition of his phenomenal contribution to his side’s unexpected third-place finish.
Fernandes scored nine goals and provided 21 assists, breaking a Premier League record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. Over the final 11 games of last season, he either scored or created 12 of the 21 goals United netted. In the seven-game run that carried United back into 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 in matches where United scored only once.
“It was a special season for me,” Fernandes told an appreciative audience. “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 numbers make far less impressive reading.
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 of them coming in the second game of the campaign, a win against Ipswich that remains his side’s only victory so far.
The figures are actually better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created nothing. However, he was playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred at that point.
This season, Fernandes is averaging 3.3 shots per game, his second-highest figure, although his best was 3.5 in 2020-21. His average of 0.8 shots on target is joint-second lowest of his time at Old Trafford. His chance creation of 2.5 per game is also his second-lowest figure at the club and significantly down on the 4.0 he produced last season.
More startling still, he has created just one “big chance” this season, the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Last season, his average was one per game.
Those numbers, along with his general involvement, go some way to explaining why United have struggled. The bigger question is whether Fernandes is a cause of the malaise or a symptom of it.
Fitness and Reassurance
There is also uncertainty over the Portugal playmaker’s fitness. Fernandes rarely misses games, 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”.
Fernandes was fit enough to return for the final two internationals of the extended break. Before that, he played the full 90 minutes in United’s 4-0 Champions League win against Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK.
United manager Michael Carrick does not see it as a problem 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.”
Missing Partners
At 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.
The absence of Sesko and Casemiro is clearly being felt. Casemiro left for Inter Miami in the summer, but his positioning and game knowledge remain of a high standard, and they gave Fernandes the freedom to take risks, knowing United would not be overrun on the counter-attack if he lost the ball. Sesko’s fresh shin injury extends a lack of involvement that is being keenly felt, and there is no end date in sight.
The club’s decision-makers 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 had to be scrapped when Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury just before the opening game at Hull. Matheus Cunha was given the role 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, that arrangement 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.
Carrick’s Backing
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 added enough caveats to suggest that leaving out his captain is not in his thinking.
United, however, must start to 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.”
