Three successive Fantasy Premier League (FPL) blanks are pushing many managers to sell Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m).
Since Gameweek 3 ended, around 1.5 million decided to ditch the second-most expensive player, armed with the belief that other midfielders are providing better value.
He’s now dropped in price, too.
So, is Manchester United’s 2025/26 assist machine playing at a level worthy of such a premium price?
ARE WE BEING HARSH?
To be honest, three goals, an assist and 31 points in five matches is a pretty good start.
Yet because they all happened in one go – Gameweek 2’s mega haul versus Ipswich Town – Fernandes is being judged on the four surrounding blanks.
Maintain this rate over the whole nine months, and that gives a final amount of 235.6 points. Basically the same as last season’s 235 – albeit at a much higher price.
Throughout the previous five FPL campaigns, that’s been beaten eight times. Half of those players cost either £11.5m or £12.5m at the start. So is he on par with expectations?
Not only that, Fernandes has already hit the woodwork twice. If one of those goes in, this analysis doesn’t even happen.
| SHOTS | CHANCES CREATED | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno Fernandes | 19 | 13 | 32 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 18 | 11 | 29 |
| Cole Palmer | 17 | 11 | 28 |
| Morgan Rogers | 15 | 11 | 26 |
| Marcus Rashford | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| Pascal Gross | 10 | 15 | 25 |
After all, the playmaker is leading the way for overall chance involvement (32) and sits third for expected goal involvement (xGI, 3.89). It’s not like he’s impersonating last season’s £14.5m Mohamed Salah!
REASONS TO OWN
A 90-MINUTE PENALTY TAKER
When weighing up the pros and cons, this one doesn’t need explaining. Club captain Fernandes has played all 450 minutes, and also steps up to take spot kicks.
STRONG STATS
Conducting a team that ranks first for attempts (113) and second for efforts on target (27), he’s continuing the devastating underlying numbers of 2025/26.
The Portuguese all-rounder sits joint-third for chances created (13) and joint-second for shots (19). Admittedly, half of the latter came from long-range.
However, nobody has whipped in more successful crosses (11), and Fernandes has racked up the highest tally of final third passes (121). Additionally, the most successful passes into the box (29).
HIS RELIABLE HISTORY
Last time, he set a new Premier League record for orthodox assists (21), while he accumulated 24 of them in FPL thanks to 12 during his final 11 outings.
Don’t forget that his chances created (136), big ones (33) and expected assists (xA, 12.32) were miles ahead of second-placed guys Dominik Szoboszlai (78) and Rayan Cherki (19 and 8.65). That xA is well short of 24, mind.
Simultaneously, he came fourth for shots (85), delivering six consecutive double-digit hauls at home between Gameweeks 16 and 30.
| SEASON | MINUTES | POINTS | FPL RETURNS | POINTS PER 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 3,065 | 235 | 33 | 6.9 |
| 2024/25 | 3,017 | 174 | 20 | 5.2 |
| 2023/24 | 3,118 | 166 | 19 | 4.8 |
| 2022/23 | 3,317 | 176 | 17 | 4.8 |
| 2021/22 | 3,110 | 151 | 17 | 4.4 |
| 2020/21 | 3,101 | 244 | 32 | 7.1 |
| 2019/20 (half) | 1,187 | 117 | 16 | 8.9 |
Yet, incredibly, 6.9 points per 90 minutes still fell below his 2020/21 number (7.1) and that of his 2019/20 half-season (8.9).
Taking six full campaigns into account, Fernandes averages 23 attacking returns.
REASONS TO AVOID
CAN HE BE CAPTAINED?
Although we’re talking about both right now and the future. Selling before he faces last-placed Tottenham Hotspur at home feels dangerous.
But, after that, Man United have the fourth-toughest run between Gameweeks 7 and 12. Fernandes is too expensive not to captain.
UNCONVINCING TEAM
The Red Devils don’t feel trustworthy, either. 12th in the table and leaky at the back, last season’s third-placed finish happened in a rare year without European football.
Well, this time they’re in the Champions League and soon must face Atletico Madrid, Como and Roma.
MBEUMO IS MATCHING HIM
Bruno may have ranked highly for 2025/26 attempts, but he wasn’t near the best for having them be inside the box, on target, or be deemed a big chance. It’s similar this time.
Meanwhile, cheaper colleague Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) lingers only slightly behind in terms of chance involvement (29) but joins him on 19 shots and an almost identical xGI (3.86, below).
The 27-year-old even beats Fernandes for close-range efforts (14 v 8). He’s perhaps a smarter, budget-friendly way to invest in Man United’s attack.
WHAT ABOUT PALMER + SAKA?
Elsewhere, the only other FPL midfielders costing at least £8.5m are Cole Palmer (£9.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£9.5m).
Both are fellow penalty takers at ‘top’ teams, but are actually about to embark on a good fixture run. They’re each on 12 box shots, too.
The Chelsea attacker had a poor 2025/26 and has faded since Gameweek 1’s big score, but three-goal Saka is bettered only by Erling Haaland (£15.6m) for xGI (4.19) and putting attempts on target (nine).
Managers can have both, instead of Fernandes and a mid-priced asset. Then again, affording Bruno and Haaland isn’t a problem if teammates Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) and Martin Odegaard (£6.8m) are preferred.
FINAL THOUGHTS
An epic 2025/26 means that Fernandes costs a lot. But focus on his points total (31) rather than the number of blanks (four): those attacking returns in a different order would be seen as ‘ticking along nicely’.
The 32-year-old shoots a lot, dominates the creativity stats and takes Man United penalties. Unless a manager strongly craves the ownership of both Palmer and Saka, he remains a fine pick.
Nevertheless, Fernandes lacks armband-friendly fixtures in the near future. Using that money to instead buy everyone else desired makes perfect sense.
