- Manchester United midfielder makes history
- Bruno Fernandes becomes the third player to hit 20 Premier League assists in one season
- Will he reach 21?
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes has made history. The Portuguese playmaker has now reached 20 Premier League assists in a single season, drawing level with Thierry Henry’s 2002/03 campaign and Kevin De Bruyne’s 2019/20 season.
Similarly, neither of those players lifted the Premier League title when they reached the landmark.
This achievement now pushes Fernandes beyond simply being a great Premier League midfielder and into the upper echelon of true legends of the division.
The midfielder collected the Football Writers’ Association Men’s Footballer of the Year award for the 2025/26 campaign just a week ago—becoming the first Manchester United player since Wayne Rooney in 2010 to win the honour—and has now followed it up by reaching the elusive 20-assist mark.
His performances have directly led to 30 points—nearly half of Manchester United’s 64 total—as he has led the Red Devils back to the Champions League for the first time since 2023.
Fernandes now has the remainder of the Nottingham Forest match and the Brighton fixture to try and move beyond 20 and claim the outright record for himself.
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Fernandes makes history vs Forest
Getting the ball in the 75th minute, Bruno Fernandes threaded a pass into Bryan Mbeumo, who made no mistake in finding the target, driving the ball beyond Matz Sels and into the back of the net.
The Old Trafford faithful erupted not just for the goal itself, but for what it represented. Assist number 20 means history has been made. It is not just the assist record Fernandes is chasing, however.
Whilst the Portuguese playmaker now dines at the same table as some of the Premier League’s greatest creators, prior to this match, he has also crafted more chances than any other player in the division with 122, whilst producing a league-high 29 big chances.
Dominik Szoboszlai sits closest in overall chances created with 71, whilst Rayan Cherki ranks second for big chances created with 16. Fernandes has almost doubled both total and that alone underlines the scale of his season.
PFA award surely sealed
Fernandes’ season no longer falls into the category of merely great. With 20 assists now beside his name, the Portuguese midfielder will stand as one of the clear favourites for the Professional Footballers’ Association Men’s Players’ Player of the Year award.
This would be another honour Manchester United have not claimed in 16 years, with Wayne Rooney once again the last player to lift it.
That statistic lays bare the club’s barren domestic spell across the past decade and a half. But if there is one thing Old Trafford has never lacked during that period, it is Fernandes.
Whilst teams, managers, and systems have risen and collapsed around him, Fernandes has remained the constant heartbeat of the club. He has been simply outstanding.
