Where on earth would Manchester United be without Bruno Fernandes?The Portuguese midfielder has been worth his weight in gold to the Red Devils since completing his £47 million move from Sporting Lisbon in January.In 21 Premier League appearances, Fernandes has scored 13 goals and registered 10 assists.Two of those goals and one of the assists came in United’s impressive 3-1 away victory over Everton on Saturday lunchtime.Following a poor start to the 2020-21 campaign, this was a fixture that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer couldn’t afford to lose. But the under-fire United boss was bailed out at Goodison Park by Fernandes’s superb individual display.The 26-year-old cancelled out Bernard’s opener with a fantastic header and then scored his second of the afternoon shortly afterwards, turning the game on its head in the process.
Bruno then set up Edinson Cavani for the Uruguayan striker’s first United goal in stoppage time.A leader on the pitch and inside the dressing room, many United fans are convinced Fernandes is a future Man Utd captain.Some supporters would even prefer to see the Portugal international wearing the captain’s armband right now instead of Harry Maguire.Following Fernandes’s latest masterclass, we’ve crunched the numbers in order to see what the Premier League table looks like since his arrival midway through last season (all stats are correct as of November 8, 12pm).So, this was the Premier League table between Gameweek 25 and Gameweek 38 of the 2019-20 season.
As you can see, Man Utd picked up more points than any other side in the top-flight following Fernandes’s arrival.
And this is the table between Gameweek 1 and Gameweek 8 (prior to Sunday’s fixtures).
Fernandes has scored five goals (a few of which have been extremely important, including his dramatic winner against Brighton) and provided three assists this season.
Without his important contribution, United would be far worse off.
Here’s how many points every team has accumulated since Fernandes joined United…
23. West Brom (Points: 3)
22. Norwich City (Points: 4)
21. Fulham (Points: 4)
20. Leeds United (Points: 10)
19. Watford (Points: 11)
18. Bournemouth (Points: 11)
17. Sheffield United (Points: 22)
16. Brighton (Points: 22)
15. Aston Villa (Points: 22)
14. Crystal Palace (Points: 26)
13. Burnley (Points: 26)
12. Newcastle United (Points: 25)
11. West Ham (Points: 27)
10. Leicester City (Points: 29)
9. Everton (Points: 32)
8. Southampton (Points: 37)
7. Wolves (Points: 38)
6. Arsenal (Points: 38)
5. Tottenham (Points: 39)
4. Chelsea (Points: 41)
3. Manchester City (Points: 41)
2. Manchester United (Points: 42)
1. Liverpool (Points: 45)
It may come as a surprise to many, given United’s poor start to the season, that Solskjaer’s side have picked up more points than any other club since February, with the exception of champions Liverpool.
But it’s safe to assume this wouldn’t be the case if it wasn’t for the decision to splash the cash on Fernandes at the start of the year.