Bruno Fernandes contributed to a remarkable 32 points with his goals and assists for Manchester United last season in the Premier League.
If you were to subtract those from United’s total tally, then they’d have finished on 39 points — level with West Ham but above them on goal difference.
Now, we know that is not how football really works, and if they didn’t have Fernandes, other players would have stepped up and scored or assisted at least some of the goals he did. So United would not have been fighting relegation without Fernandes, but we can be almost as sure they would not have finished third and qualified for the Champions League without him either.
The amount of points Fernandes earned is a signifier of how reliant United were on their captain last term. It’s impressive and risky in equal measure, and the club’s plan for the future is for that not to be the case.
In nine of the games Fernandes either scored or assisted in, those goal contributions were the deciding moments. His goal or assist either put United level to earn a draw or put them into a lead — for a total of 17 points.
It is why the record-breaking 21 assists in the Premier League were certainly worthy of the individual accolades he collected last season, such as the FWA Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season.
It is also why United insist he is not for sale this summer and instead are in talks about extending his contract.
Fernandes is the second-highest paid player at the club now that Marcus Rashford has returned. You suspect Fernandes may get closer to Rashford’s salary once these contract negotiations are completed following Galatasaray’s reported interest.
The Portuguese is, without doubt, the most important player in Michael Carrick’s team, but if they are going to challenge for major honours, then United need others to help out even more.
Fernandes’ team-mates need to chip in more regularly in 2026-27 (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha all scored more Premier League goals than Fernandes, but only just. Mbeumo and Sesko scored 11, with Cunha on 10.
Those combined numbers are good, especially considering they are league goals only and from a brand-new attack constructed last summer, but the point remains: United need more from their front three. The club’s total of 69 goals in the league last season was a huge improvement on the 44 from the previous campaign. They were also only two shy of champions Arsenal.
But Fernandes created 21 of them directly. The next in the list of assists was Patrick Dorgu on four. His chance creation is even more startling. Since 2023-24, he has created 458 chances. The next highest is Diogo Dalot on 144, as the graph below displays.
Across the Premier League in the same time frame, Fernandes has created more than 30 per cent of United’s goals and scored just shy of 20 per cent. Last season, Fernandes created four chances per game, more than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues.
This summer’s midfield rejig is something head coach Michael Carrick believes can help improve the attacking numbers of others. But any changes made will not be to stifle Fernandes in any way. Instead, the idea is to give him even more freedom.
That was one item discussed in pre-season planning by Carrick and his staff: How can they keep Fernandes’ numbers up but also pull others closer to him in terms of their contribution?
Under Ruben Amorim, Fernandes played most of the first half of last season in a deeper role, which gave him more time on the ball but added defensive responsibilities and, crucially, meant he was in the attacking third less often.
Carrick changed that straight away when he came in, but United’s coaching staff want more of Fernandes in and around the area where he can continue to hurt opposition teams.
Carrick restored Fernandes to an attacking position and reaped the benefits (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
The arrival of Youri Tielemans will help Fernandes, but also United’s other attackers. In United’s pre-season friendly against Paris Saint-Germain, which ended 1-1, the £35million signing from Aston Villa came off the bench and completed 21 of his 21 passes, with 90 per cent of them forward, according to Opta.
The intent was clear. Get the ball moving forward as quickly as possible to help United attack swiftly, and that will benefit Fernandes and others.
Last term, Fernandes made eight passes into the final third per game, more than any other United player. It is hoped Tielemans can challenge those numbers.
Carrick will also want more from his midfield in terms of attacking threat. They have to replace the nine goals Casemiro scored from a defensive midfield role for starters.
Tielemans managed seven assists and two goals last season for Aston Villa. United believe he can better that tally and the player himself is ambitious to do so. He had 25 assists and 10 goals in 134 appearances for Villa.
Meanwhile, Kobbie Mainoo, at 21, is still developing. He has scored important and impressive goals since breaking into the United first team, but there is a belief he can be better near the box if given more freedom to get forward.
Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba may provide him with a bit of protection to do so. Santos has played as a screen across the defence so far in pre-season, while Baleba — should a deal get completed with Brighton as expected — will help cover a lot of ground, which could help free up Mainoo more.
United’s attack has not been strengthened so far in this window, but the return of Rashford, should he stay, also provides potential for more goals and assists from another player.
Rashford managed 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions last season for Barcelona. Those 28 goal involvements were double United’s next-best performer after Fernandes, with Mbeumo managing 14 goal involvements combined.
Obviously, it remains to be seen if Rashford will stay and if Carrick can inspire the 28-year-old England international to find form again in a United shirt.
His most prolific season for United came in the 2022-23 season, when he scored 30 and created 12 in all competitions. Fernandes assisted him seven times in a campaign in which he managed 29 goal involvements himself.
Carrick believes he can revitalise Rashford in a United shirt, so is keen for him to stay but is aware of the potential for the right offer to come that the club may take should it arrive before September 1.
Fernandes might be reunited with Marcus Rashford this season (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Rashford gives Carrick options on the left with Cunha and can also play through the middle if needed. His presence — if fit and firing — means United have strong options off the bench when opposition teams are tiring, whether the England international starts or is a substitute.
Carrick is also confident Sesko will continue to progress. His 11 Premier League goals last season were a decent return in a debut campaign, especially considering he started only 17 games.
That was down to arriving late in the transfer window, combined with knee and shin injuries which punctuated his season. Sesko has missed all of this summer’s pre-season with that shin problem but returned to full training this week and may be in contention for the squad for the season opener against Hull City on Saturday.
Mbeumo’s form dropped after last season’s Africa Cup of Nations, and he went nine games between March and early May without scoring. Cunha was consistent but can improve, while Amad will want to improve his total of two goals and four assists.
United are also aware that Fernandes, who turns 32 in September, may need to have his minutes managed a bit more as he ages. The Portugal midfielder has missed just five games through injury since moving to United in 2020.
The graph below conveys the sheer amount of minutes he plays.
That is not expected to dip immediately, but there is also the thought of keeping him fresh. A fit Mason Mount and Tielemans’ ability to play further forward offers rotation options.
Carrick’s side now has to challenge the demands of Champions League football on top of the domestic campaign, and he may need to rest the club captain at times, which also means others will need to step up.
The aim is not to make Fernandes less important. United want him deciding games, creating chances and producing moments his ability allows.
That certainly didn’t happen given his record-breaking campaign. As captain and talisman, he is also always going to be talked about, under scrutiny, praised when he delivers positive performances and criticised when he doesn’t.
Fernandes will always be central to United, but the challenge for Carrick is to make sure they’re not reliant on him to be the difference in almost every game.
If the Portuguese is rested, well-marshalled or simply has an off day, United want other players who are capable of taking more responsibility and changing a match. Fernandes himself has already said he wants to hear less about Bruno and more about United.
This season, he will hope they deliver on that.
Additional reporting: Laurie Whitwell and Conor O’Neill
