Bruno Fernandes is struggling to find his best form this season, with three goals and one assist in Manchester United’s six Premier League games. Those numbers come just seven weeks after he was named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26, and as United’s start to the campaign has become their worst in 40 years.
Fernandes stood in the Manchester Opera House in August and spoke of his pride at the award. The Manchester United captain had already won the Premier League and Football Writers’ versions of the honour, recognising his huge part in his side’s unexpected third-place finish.
He scored nine goals and claimed 21 assists last season, breaking a Premier League record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne. Over the final 11 games, of the 21 goals United scored, Fernandes either scored himself or created 12 of them. 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. It was 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.
“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 figures are far less impressive.
A dip in output
Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six Premier League games. He has scored three goals and provided one assist, all of them coming against Ipswich in the second game of the campaign, which remains United’s only league win so far.
The numbers are actually better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created nothing. However, he was then playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred.
This season he is averaging 3.3 shots per game, his second-highest figure for shots. His best was 3.5 in 2020-21. However, 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 at the club and well down on the 4.0 he managed last season.
Even more startlingly, he has created just one “big chance” so far this season. That was the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo running clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Last season, Fernandes averaged one big chance per game.
These figures help explain why United have collected just six points from their opening six games. But that raises a question: is Fernandes a reason for United’s malaise, or a symptom of it?
Fitness and the manager’s view
There is also uncertainty over the Portugal playmaker’s fitness. Fernandes rarely misses a game, but he was left out of the recent Nations League match with Norway. National team boss Jorge Jesus said the former Sporting man was “playing through pain”.
However, 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 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.”
Missing support around him
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. Even Casemiro’s biggest admirers could not claim United’s current low running numbers are down to the 34-year-old leaving for Inter Miami in the summer. However, his positioning and game knowledge remain of a high standard. With Casemiro in the side, Fernandes could take risks, believing 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, as yet, no end date for his return.
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 had to be 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, it feels restrictive. He is not a player who lacks confidence, but it does seem his decision-making is being affected. Against Tottenham at the weekend, it took him an incredible 23 minutes just to complete a pass.
What comes next
Carrick said on Monday, as he looked ahead to the Champions League meeting with Atletico, that 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.”