Where on earth do you start with Bruno Fernandes? The Manchester United playmaker may not have won the Premier League but he’s beaten every Arsenal player to the individual awards so far this campaign.
After a staggering season in which he registered 21 top-flight assists, he has won the FWA Player of the Year and the Premier League’s in-house award. If he takes home the PFA gong as well, it could be quite the hat-trick of accolades.
He deserves it too. No player has ever registered more assists across a single league season since the English top-flight was rebranded in 1992.
It would not be a surprise to see Fernandes dominate again next term. United are more stable now with Michael Carrick at the helm and are set to strengthen big time over the summer.
The latest on Manchester United’s transfer plans
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be familiar with the fact that United are in dire need of signing not just one but two midfielders this summer.
Thankfully, they do appear to be closing in on one move already with Ederson due to complete a switch to Old Trafford barring a crazy twist in the tale.
Who joins him will be fascinating. Elliot Anderson is the top target but Manchester City are currently leading the race there. Elsewhere, West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes is regularly linked with a move to the north west of England.
That said, United are also targeting improvement in the final third, notably linked with Victor Osimhen over the weekend. He’s not the only global star on the club’s radar.
Indeed, according to a report from TEAMtalk, the Red Devils are one of a host of clubs in the Premier League to have held talks with the camp of Vinicius Junior.
The Real Madrid attacker is out of contract in 2027 and while club president Florentino Perez insists he won’t be going anywhere this summer, they are playing a risky game if he does not pen fresh terms.
Estimated to be worth around £130m by previous reports, he could leave on a free next year with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all in contact to understand the player’s situation.
Why Vinicius Junior could surpass Fernandes as Man United’s best player
There are not many players in world football who could surpass Fernandes as the club’s best player.
The Portuguese sensation has been nothing short of remarkable in United red, most notably across the latest season. Not only did the skipper register 22 assists in all competitions but he also scored nine times.
He is not just one of the best players in the Premier League, but he’s one of the best across Europe too. Well, in Vinicius Junior, they’d be signing one of the best players of all time; that’s how good Vini is.
Just a matter of years ago, the Brazilian finished second to Rodri in the race for the Ballon d’Or and despite the arrival of Kylian Mbappe at the Bernabeu, the 25-year-old has continued to deliver goal contributions on a very regular basis.
In 2025/26, the winger scored 22 times, scoring ten times. That was the fifth straight season with the Madrid star scoring over 20 goals. He is next level.
|
Vini Jr goals per season |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games |
Goals |
|
2021/22 |
52 |
22 |
|
2022/23 |
55 |
23 |
|
2023/24 |
39 |
24 |
|
2024/25 |
52 |
21 |
|
2025/26 |
53 |
22 |
Celebrated as “the best player in the world in his position” by the aforementioned Perez and as a “superstar” by former teammate Luka Modric, is is undeniably the most electric left winger in the game.
To put Vini’s numbers into context, Bryan Mbeumo has never scored more than 20 goals across a single season while Matheus Cunha, the man he could replace on the left, has never scored more than the 17 he netted in 2024/25.
The Brazilian icon is not just a goalscorer. He delivered 16 assists during the 2021/22 campaign before dropping another 19 the season after. In 2024/25, he picked up a further 15 and in 2025/26, he supplied ten goals for teammates.
So good is Vinicius that he ranks very highly compared to positionally similar players in Europe for every important metric you can imagine. He is in the top 4% for productive dribbles, the best 1% for progressive actions, the top 1% for progressive carries and the top 11% for non-penalty goals. This is a genuine elite talent.
The club’s current captain may be held in a similar breath but the fact of the matter is that he is not a Galactico, he is not on the same level as Vinicius. There is a reason he was entrusted with replacing Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish capital.
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