Just seven weeks after being named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is struggling to match his remarkable form of last season, and his side are struggling with him. United have collected just six points from their opening six Premier League games, their worst league start in 40 years.
Fernandes has been a central figure in a dramatic turnaround before. He won the Premier League and Football Writers’ player of the year awards too, recognising his huge contribution to United’s unexpected third-place finish. He scored nine goals and provided 21 assists over the campaign, breaking a Premier League record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.
At the Manchester Opera House, he spoke of his pride. “It was a special season for me,” he said. “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 extra weight now. 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 carried United back into the Champions League after a two-year absence, the 31-year-old was involved in nine of their 12 goals. Statistically, it was reminiscent of Eric Cantona’s 1995-96 title-winning campaign.
This season’s figures tell a far less impressive story. Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six league games and has three goals and one assist, all coming against Ipswich, the only win so far. That is slightly better than last term, when he scored twice in the opening six games without creating a goal, but he was then playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred.
The numbers behind the slump
Fernandes is taking more shots this season, averaging 3.3 per game, his second-highest figure at the club. However, he is averaging just 0.8 shots on target, his joint-second lowest. His chance creation has also dropped to 2.5 per game, down significantly from 4.0 last season.
Most striking of all, he has created only one “big chance” so far this season, a lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. Last season, he averaged one per game.
Those figures raise an obvious question: is Fernandes a cause of United’s problems, or a symptom of them? Some of the answer lies in his fitness. He rarely misses matches, yet he was left out of the recent Nations League game against Norway, when Portugal boss Jorge Jesus said the playmaker was “playing through pain”. Fernandes was fit enough to return for the final two internationals of the break, and he played the full 90 minutes in the 4-0 Champions League win over Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK.
Manager Michael Carrick does not see fitness as an issue as he prepares his side for 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
Fernandes’ best form last season coincided with Benjamin Sesko leading the line and Casemiro anchoring 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.
Both players are missed. Casemiro has left for Inter Miami, and his positioning and game knowledge are hard to replace, though he cannot account for all of United’s current problems. Fernandes could take risks last season because United were protected on the break if he lost the ball. Sesko’s fresh shin injury extends an absence that is keenly felt and has no end date.
United’s hierarchy 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 was scrapped when Amad Diallo injured his ankle just before the opening game at Hull. Matheus Cunha took the role but repeatedly dropped deep into the space Fernandes occupied, and the pair never found an effective way to deal 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, he took an incredible 23 minutes to complete a pass.
Carrick has said that nobody is “guaranteed” a place in his team, though he surrounded that comment with enough caveats to suggest that dropping his captain is not on his mind. “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.”
United must improve, and that starts with their captain.