Manchester United beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday, but honestly, the result was almost beside the point. The real story is what Bruno Fernandes is quietly doing to the Premier League record books.
Fernandes picked up his 18th assist of the season in that win, setting up Matheus Cunha’s goal, which was his sixth assist in as many games and leaves him two away from the all-time single-season Premier League record jointly held by Thierry Henry in 2002/03 and Kevin De Bruyne in 2019/20.
What makes this genuinely remarkable is the context around it. Fernandes did not register a single assist until October 19 Matchweek 8 when he set up Harry Maguire’s late winner at Liverpool. So everything you are seeing now has been built from a standing start, in a team that has changed managers, changed systems and changed identity midway through the campaign. He has done this with a rebuilt United midfield, with five games fewer than most seasons and he is still two away from the names of Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
There is a legitimate debate about the quality of the assists themselves, nine of Fernandes’ 18 have come from set-pieces, compared to Henry’s 18 from open play and De Bruyne’s 17, which has the purists questioning whether the totals are truly comparable. It is a fair conversation and an interesting one, but it also risks underselling what Fernandes has actually done, which is carry Manchester United’s attacking output almost single-handedly through one of the most chaotic seasons the club has had in years, and still be standing with five games to go and a shot at history.
He is also closing in on Steven Gerrard’s all-time record for set-piece assists in a single season 11 in 2013/14 and has already broken David Beckham’s record for the most assists in a Premier League season by a United player. The names he is passing on his way through the record books tell you everything about what kind of company he is in right now.
