The 2025-26 season belongs to the Bruno Fernandes era at Manchester United, but the club does not want history to repeat itself. The Athletic has reported that Manchester United hopes to be less reliant on their captain next season. Bruno Fernandes will turn 32 in September, and Manchester United needs to manage his playing time more scientifically.

Last season in the Premier League, Bruno Fernandes directly contributed an astonishing 32 points to Manchester United through goals and assists.

If these points were deducted from Manchester United's total, the team would have only secured 39 points, level with West Ham United, but ahead on goal difference.

Of course, football reality is not so simple. If Bruno Fernandes weren't in the squad, other players would step up, at least completing some of the goals he scored or assisted. So even without Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United wouldn't necessarily be mired in a relegation battle, but it's almost certain the team wouldn't finish third in the league and qualify for the Champions League.

The points contributed by Bruno Fernandes directly illustrate Manchester United's high dependence on their captain last season. This performance is both admirable and carries significant risks, and the club's future plan is to move away from this situation.

In the nine matches where Bruno Fernandes scored or assisted, his attacking output was crucial to the outcome. His goals or assists helped Manchester United equalize to secure a draw or take the lead, accumulating a total of 17 points for the team.

This also explains why he set a Premier League record of 21 assists, fully deserving the individual awards he received last season, including the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season.

This is also why Manchester United insists they will not sell him this summer and are instead pushing for contract extension negotiations.

With the return of Rashford, Bruno Fernandes is currently the club's second-highest-paid player. Galatasaray is reportedly interested in him, and it is speculated that after the contract extension negotiations are completed, Bruno Fernandes's salary will further align with Rashford's.

Undoubtedly, the Portuguese midfielder is the most important player under Carrick. But if Manchester United wants to challenge for major trophies, other players need to take on more responsibility.

Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matheus Cunha all have slightly more Premier League goals than Bruno Fernandes. Mbeumo and Sesko each scored 11 goals, and Cunha scored 10.

These statistics are generally good, especially as all of them are league goals, and this attacking line was only assembled last summer. But the problem remains: Manchester United needs better performances from their front three. The team scored 69 league goals last season, a huge improvement from 44 goals the season before, and only two goals shy of league champions Arsenal.

However, Bruno Fernandes directly created 21 of those goals. The player with the second-highest assists in the squad is Patrick Dorgu, with only 4 assists. His chance creation statistics are even more astonishing.

Since the 2023-24 season, he has created a total of 458 chances, with Diogo Dalot ranking second with 144.

In the same period in the Premier League, over 30% of Manchester United's goals were created by Bruno Fernandes, and his individual goals accounted for nearly 20% of the team's total goals. Last season, he created an average of 4 chances per game, a statistic higher than all other players in Europe's top five leagues.

Manager Michael Carrick believes that adjustments to the midfield this summer can help other players improve their attacking output.

However, all adjustments are not meant to restrict Bruno Fernandes; on the contrary, the club hopes to give him greater freedom of movement.

This is one of the topics Carrick and his coaching staff are discussing during pre-season preparation: how to maintain Bruno Fernandes's high-level output while also bringing other players' attacking contributions closer to his.

In the first half of last season under Amorim, Bruno Fernandes played in a deeper role, which gave him more possession but also increased his defensive duties. Crucially, his frequency in the attacking third decreased.

Carrick immediately changed this arrangement upon taking over, but the coaching staff wants Bruno Fernandes to appear more often around the box, continuously posing a threat to opponents.

Carrick's decision to move Bruno Fernandes back to an attacking position also yielded ideal results.

The arrival of Tielemans can benefit both Bruno Fernandes and the rest of Manchester United's attacking players. In Manchester United's 1-1 pre-season friendly draw against Paris Saint-Germain, the new signing, who cost £35 million from Aston Villa, came on as a substitute. Opta data showed that all 21 of his passes were successful, 90% of which were forward passes.

The tactical intent is very clear: to move the ball forward as quickly as possible, driving Manchester United's rapid attacks, which will benefit Bruno Fernandes and his teammates.

Last season, Bruno Fernandes averaged 8 passes into the opponent's final third per game, the highest in the team. The club expects Tielemans to challenge this statistic.

Carrick also hopes that the midfield as a whole can contribute more attacking threat. Firstly, the team needs to fill the void left by Casemiro's 9 goals from a defensive midfield position last season.

Tielemans provided 7 assists and scored 2 goals for Aston Villa last season. Manchester United believes he can surpass these numbers, and the player himself shares this ambition. During his time at Villa, he provided 25 assists and scored 10 goals in 134 appearances.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Kobbie Mainoo is still developing. Since breaking into the first team, he has scored a number of important goals, but the club believes he can do even better around the box if given more freedom to make forward runs.

Andre Santos and Carlos Baleba can provide him with defensive cover. During pre-season, Santos has consistently acted as a defensive shield; and Baleba, if Manchester United can complete the transfer with Brighton as expected, will take on a large amount of running and covering work, further freeing up Mainoo.

So far this transfer window, Manchester United has not strengthened its attacking line. But if Rashford stays, his return could provide the team with another player who can consistently contribute goals and assists.

Last season, Rashford, playing for Barcelona, contributed 14 goals and 14 assists across all competitions. These 28 direct goal involvements are double that of Mbeumo (14), who ranks second only to Bruno Fernandes in the team.

Of course, whether Rashford will stay and whether Carrick can reignite the 28-year-old England international's form at Manchester United remain unknown.

His most successful season at Manchester United was the 2022-23 season, where he notched 30 goals and 12 assists across all competitions. That season, Bruno Fernandes provided him with 7 assists and also completed 28 direct goal involvements himself.

Carrick believes he can revitalize Rashford at Manchester United and therefore hopes he stays, but he also knows that if a suitable offer is received before September 1st, the club might choose to let him go.

This season, Bruno Fernandes and Rashford may once again play side-by-side.

Rashford can offer Carrick rotation options with Cunha on the left wing and can also play centrally when necessary. As long as he is fit and performing well, whether starting or as a substitute, his presence can provide Manchester United with a powerful option when opponents tire.

Carrick also expects Sesko to continue to improve. Last season was his debut Premier League season, and 11 league goals is already good, especially considering he only had 17 starts.

This was due to his late arrival in the transfer window, coupled with persistent knee and shin injuries that plagued his season. The shin injury kept him out of the entire pre-season, but he has resumed full training this week and has a chance to be included in the squad for Saturday's opening match against Hull City.

Mbeumo's form dipped after last season's Africa Cup of Nations, failing to score in nine consecutive matches between March and early May. Cunha has been consistent but still has room for improvement, while Amad hopes to surpass his record of 2 goals and 4 assists.

Bruno Fernandes will turn 32 in September, and as he ages, Manchester United needs to manage his playing time more scientifically. The Portuguese midfielder has only missed five matches due to injury since joining Manchester United in 2020.

The chart visually demonstrates his immense playing time.

His playing time won't be drastically cut immediately, but the club also needs to ensure his physical reserves. A fit Mason Mount, and Tielemans's ability to make forward runs, both provide options for rotation.

Carrick's team will not only face domestic competitions but also the pressure of the Champions League schedule, so he will sometimes need to rest his captain, which means other players must step up and take responsibility.

The goal is not to diminish Bruno Fernandes's role. Manchester United still needs him to decide games, create chances, and showcase his individual abilities.

As captain and a key figure, he is always under public scrutiny: he receives praise when he performs well and criticism when he is out of form.

Bruno Fernandes will always be central to Manchester United, but the challenge facing Carrick is to ensure that the outcome of almost every match doesn't depend solely on him.

When the Portuguese midfielder is rested, tightly marked, or simply out of form, Manchester United needs other players who can take on the burden and change the game.

Bruno Fernandes himself has stated that he wants less talk about Bruno and more talk about Manchester United as a team.

This season, he hopes the team can truly achieve this.

AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com