Manchester United reminded of the Bruno Fernandes trait that might be irreplaceable
Bruno Fernandes has opened up talk on his Man Utd future again but there is one side of his game that doesn’t get the level of praise it deserves.
Bruno Fernandes has a remarkable fitness record at Manchester United
For all the talk of Bruno Fernandes’ goals and assists, of his leadership and his passion, there is one side of his game that gets little recognition. He is almost always available.
Fresh light has been shed on Fernandes’ astonishing fitness record in the latest report from the CIES Football Observatory, which looks at the most physically robust outfield players by measuring minutes played. Across the last three years, nobody has played more than Fernandes’ 16,880 minutes.
The 31-year-old comes in ahead of Federico Valverde, Nicolas Otamendi and Gustavo Gomez of Palmeiras and it’s a reminder that he is not only relied on at Old Trafford to deliver in an attacking sense, but to play every week as well. That tally of minutes has been recorded across 192 games for club and country.
Fernandes hasn’t missed a game this season and has played all but eight minutes of United’s Premier League campaign. Last season, he was suspended for one Europa League game and one Premier League fixture and was rested at Brentford during the run-in as focus turned to Europe, but there were no injuries.
The last time he missed a game through injury for United was in May 2024, when he was sidelined for two fixtures towards the end of the season. In total, he has missed just three matches through injury or illness since signing for the club in January 2020, which is an incredible record for a player who has now racked up 307 appearances.
This season, Fernandes has played 96.4% of possible minutes for United. Last season, it was 89.7%, and the season before, 90.4%. He has been United’s best player throughout that run, but is also always available.
Having reopened the debate over his future this week, this is another aspect of Fernandes’ game that United might find difficult to replace. He told Canal 11 in Portugal that he felt the club wanted him to leave last summer and he has already made it clear he will reassess his future after the World Cup.
It’s not impossible that he leaves United this summer, but in addition to replacing his influence in the final third, they will need to find a player who can match his robustness, and that will not be easy.
United have had their injury issues in recent years. Erik ten Hag’s second season in charge was wrecked by a string of fitness problems, but Fernandes was never affected. New research earlier this week labelled United the Premier League’s most injury-hit club, with absences costing them £155million over the past five years.
Throughout it all, Fernandes has remained the constant, and his ability to almost entirely avoid injury is remarkable. That will be even harder to replace than his goals and assists if he does call it a day at the end of the season.
