Bruno Fernandes has endured a difficult start to the new Premier League season, with only three goals and one assist in six games, as Manchester United have collected just six points, their worst league start in 40 years. Only seven weeks ago, the Manchester United captain was celebrating his PFA Player of the Year award for 2025-26.
Fernandes had already won the Premier League and Football Writers’ awards in recognition of his phenomenal contribution to United’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 the club’s 12 goals. Statistically, it was remarkable, and it recalled Eric Cantona’s 1995-96 title-winning campaign, when he scored in six successive games, five of them when United scored only once.
“It was a special season for me,” Fernandes told an appreciative audience at the awards. “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 Difficult Start
Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six Premier League games. His three goals and one assist all came in the second game of the campaign, against Ipswich, which remains United’s only league win so far.
The figures are actually better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created nothing. At that stage, however, Fernandes was playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred.
This season, Fernandes is taking his second-highest number of shots, averaging 3.3 per game. His best was 3.5 in 2020-21. His average of 0.8 shots on target is his joint-second lowest, and his chance creation of 2.5 per game is the second lowest of his time at Old Trafford. Last season, he averaged 4.0.
He has also created just one ‘big chance’ so far, the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Last season, he averaged one per game.
These numbers, along with his general involvement, go some way to explaining United’s poor start. The key question is whether Fernandes is a cause of United’s malaise or a symptom of it.
Fitness Questions
Doubts also surround 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 Champions League win against Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK.
United manager Michael Carrick does not see it as a major 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.”
Missing Support
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.
The absence of Sesko and Casemiro is clearly being felt. Even Casemiro’s biggest admirers could not claim that United’s current low running numbers are due to the 34-year-old leaving for Inter Miami in the summer. His positioning and game knowledge remain of a high standard, and they allowed Fernandes to take risks, as United were not easily overrun on transition 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 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 took on 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, the setup 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 to complete a pass.
Carrick’s Backing
On Monday, as he looked ahead to the Atletico meeting, 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 improve, and that means Fernandes must improve too.
“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.”