Bruno Fernandes, who has scored 111 goals in 335 appearances for Manchester United, is struggling to find his best form this season, just seven weeks after he was named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26 at the Manchester Opera House.
The Manchester United captain had already won the Premier League and Football Writers’ awards for 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 a central figure in nine of the 12 goals.
Statistically, it was a remarkable spell. It recalled Eric Cantona in the 1995-96 title-winning campaign, when he scored in six successive games, five of which United won by only one goal.
“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 are far less impressive.
A slow start to the season
Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six Premier League games. He has scored three goals and provided one assist, all coming against Ipswich in the second game of the campaign, which remains United’s only win so far.
Those figures are actually better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created nothing. At that point, however, Fernandes was playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred.
This season, Fernandes is averaging 3.3 shots per game, his second-highest figure, though his best was 3.5 in 2020-21. His average of 0.8 shots on target is joint-second lowest. His chance creation, at 2.5 per game, is the second lowest of his time at Old Trafford and well down on the 4.0 he managed last season.
More startlingly, he has created just one “big chance” so far, the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Fernandes averaged one per game last season.
These numbers help explain why United have collected just six points from their opening six games, their worst league start in 40 years, when Ron Atkinson was sacked to make way for Sir Alex Ferguson.
So is Fernandes a cause of United’s malaise, or a symptom of it?
Fitness and the Carrick verdict
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”.
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 win over Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK in the Champions League.
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 support around him
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. Even Casemiro’s biggest admirers could not argue that United’s current low running numbers are down to the 34-year-old leaving for Inter Miami in the summer. 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.
As for Sesko, his fresh shin injury extends a spell without involvement that is being keenly felt, and there is, as yet, no end date.
The club’s decision-makers ignored calls for more striking support in the summer and reinforced Carrick’s midfield instead. 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 handed 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, it feels restrictive. He is not a player who lacks confidence, but his decision-making does seem to be suffering. Against Tottenham at the weekend, it took him an incredible 23 minutes just to complete a pass.
What comes next
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 comment with enough caveats to suggest that leaving out his captain is not in his thinking.
United 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.”