Bruno Fernandes finished the 2025-26 Premier League season with a record of 21 assists, breaking the record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. In the general statistics of Man United last season, the goals and assists of the Portuguese midfielder directly brought the "Red Devils" 32/71 points, a very impressive number.
Without Bruno Fernandes, the team would look for someone else to replace his position and role. However, looking at the team's previous season's force, it is impossible to find someone with enough ability like Bruno. The points the Portuguese star brought shows the level of Man United's dependence on him last season. This is both impressive but also risky and the club's plan is to change this situation.
The trio of new strikers in the summer of 2025 including Matheus Cunha (10), Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko (11) all scored more goals than Bruno Fernandes (9) in the Premier League last season. These are impressive numbers but they need to be further increased in the 2026-27 season.
Last season, Man United scored a total of 69 goals in the Premier League, only 2 goals behind the champions Arsenal. In these 69 goals, Bruno directly participated in 30 goals (21 assists, 9 goals), nearly 50%. The 2nd person in the "Red Devils" assist list, Patrick Dorgu, only had 4 times. Bruno's ability to create chances is even more amazing. Since the 2023-24 season, he has created 458 chances. The 2nd person is Diogo Dalot with 144 chances, much less.
Considering the entire Premier League in the same period, Bruno Fernandes contributed to more than 30% of Man United's goals and directly scored nearly 20% of them. Last season, he created an average of 4 chances per game, more than any other player in the top 5 European national leagues.
Restructuring the midfield this summer is what Michael Carrick believes will help improve the attacking stats of the remaining stars. However, all changes made will not aim to restrain Bruno Fernandes in any way. On the contrary, the goal is to give him more freedom.
The appearance of Youri Tielemans will bring benefits not only to Bruno Fernandes but also to other attacking players. In the pre-season friendly match between Man United and PSG, the £35 million newcomer from Aston Villa came on as a substitute and successfully completed 100% of passes (21/21), of which 90% were passes upwards (according to Opta).
Carrick's purpose is very clear. He wants the whole team to rotate the ball forward as quickly as possible to support lightning attacks, thereby creating an advantage for Bruno and the attacking spearheads.
Last season, Bruno Fernandes made an average of 8 passes into the bottom 1/3 of the field per game. This is the highest number in the Man United squad. Youri Tielemans is expected to reach or surpass these stats.
Carrick also wants the midfield to create more threats on the attacking front. First of all, they need to make up for 9 goals Casemiro scored when playing as a defensive midfielder. Last season, Tielemans contributed 7 assists and 2 goals for Aston Villa. Man United believes he can improve this record. In total, he has 25 assists and 10 goals after 134 appearances for Villa.
Man United's attack has not been strengthened in this transfer window. Rashford's return (if he stays) will bring potential in terms of goals and assists. Last season, Rashford contributed 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions. This total of 28 G/A is twice as many as the player with the second best record of Man United, Mbeumo, with 14 G/A.
The goal of these plans is not to change the importance of Bruno Fernandes in the squad. Man United still needs the Portuguese star to shine in big matches, but if only Bruno speaks out, it will be very difficult for the "Red Devils" to go further than last season's achievements.
