In another day, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes produced another influential performance, with the Portuguese prodigy once again playing a decisive role in his side’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Friday night.
Despite spending the majority of the season in a deep midfield role for which he is unsuited, the 31-year-old has enjoyed arguably his best individual season to date at United, and once again looked particularly talismanic under manager Michael Carrick.
There were no assists for the man who chased down Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, but the former Sporting CP star showed his vitality to open the scoring from the penalty spot before supplying the corner kick that led to James Hill’s unfortunate own goal.
Currently, Fernandes is aging like fine wine, having racked up up to 16 assists and eight goals in the 2025/26 Premier League alone. Is this the best thing ever for him?
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Another United Player of the Year award seems inevitable, with Fernandes also likely to be named the division’s Player of the Year despite Arsenal’s title bid.
In an era of sometimes sluggish top-flight football, watching United’s captain play is like a breath of fresh air. That willingness to continue creating, as evidenced by Friday’s 26 lost possessions, is at odds with the safe, steady approach dictated by the manager.
Of course, such creative qualities are nothing new, and Fernandes, who arrived from Lisbon in January 2020, started like a house on fire, setting the tone with a man-of-the-match display on his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The first 18 months or so were somewhat tainted by the amount of football played without supporters, but his numbers declined from 2022/23 to 2023/24, although he remained influential under Erik ten Hag.
Even last season, when he finished with an impressive 38 goals and assists in all competitions, Fernandes didn’t really score at all until ten Hag was sacked in October, after which debate raged over whether Fernandes was the answer to Ruben Amorim’s midfield pairing.
Fernandes’ PL results | ||
|---|---|---|
season | game | Goal (assist) |
25/26 | 28 | 8(16) |
24/25 | 36 | 8(10) |
23/24 | 35 | 10(8) |
22/23 | 37 | 8(8) |
21/22 | 36 | 10(6) |
20/21 | 37 | 18(12) |
19/20 | 14 | 8(7) |
total | 223 | 70(67) |
In terms of the 2025/26 season, and especially this year, he has demonstrated the control he showed under Ten Hag, and with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-style stats to match, this must be considered the most complete version of Fernandes that United fans have ever seen.
Thankfully, unlike in previous seasons, the captain no longer has to do everything himself, as was evident on the South Coast.
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Fernandes was of course involved in both goals on Friday night as 10-man United fought for a point. A frantic second half turned the away team’s largely controlled performance upside down.
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In fact, the away team was particularly dominant in the first half. Fernandes’ opening goal was worth it, following some deft movement from Matheus Cunha inside the area.
The contact may have been minimal, but just like against Crystal Palace a while ago, Cunha developed a typical Fernandes knack for winning or buying a foul in the final third, winning a penalty and helping United go ahead.
While Fernandes has just over a year left on his contract and his long-term future is somewhat in doubt, the Brazilian has hit the mark multiple times this season and looks very much like an in-house successor.
As Bournemouth’s Alex Jimenez will be well aware, there is a relentless, talismanic quality to his performances and, like his captain, Cunha has shaken off a quiet start to his United career to emerge as the team’s true leader.
This has been particularly true since Carrick took charge, with the 26-year-old enjoying a number of defining moments so far in 2026, including his assist for Patrick Dorg against Manchester City and his thunderous late strike against Arsenal.
A man for the big stage, Cunha mirrors Fernandes in that he has a flair for spectacular matches, as seen with finishes such as his angled finish against Fulham.
As for Friday’s match, despite starting on the left-wing, the former Wolves man was everywhere and everywhere, evoking memories of a certain Wayne Rooney with a powerful all-action performance.
Like his ‘skills’, Cunha is comfortable playing across the front line without being categorized as striker, winger or number 10, and has the perfect combination of all of them.
He will do the job for the team no matter where he is placed, and like the imposing Rooney, he still has the devastating finishing ability to match, and has now scored six goals and provided three assists since the start of December.
As well as being a star in his own right, he is also a team player, similar to Rooney under Sir Alex Ferguson, who can end an attack as well as start it, as with his exquisitely lofted passes at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Fernandes, like Cristiano Ronaldo before him, is the star of this game, but he can’t do it alone. He doesn’t need to, thanks to United’s recent No. 10 sensation.
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Manchester United faced Bournemouth in controversial circumstances in the Premier League, losing to a draw.
