Bruno Fernandes There was once a coach who told him that if he wanted to be a top player, he should be a central defender, and if he wanted to be just a good player, he should be a midfielder. Bruno chose the latter and is now proving his prediction wrong and showing that sometimes it’s best to listen to one’s instincts. “I wanted to be the best of them all. And if I need to nutmeg someone, I’ll do it – I don’t care,” he said on the Manchester United podcast in 2020.
His devil-may-care attitude occasionally doesn’t work in the United set-up, where forwards don’t always anticipate the bold passes attempted by Bruno, resulting in the team giving up possession. But when he pulls them off, and delivers the required results, it’s like a breath of fresh air in the stuffy, mechanical world of modern football, where teams mostly play a certain way.
Midfield maestro
His ability to make nothing happen with just his nature is one of the reasons why Bruno has not only become one of the best players in his midfield role in a Manchester United shirt, but also embedded himself in the beating heart of Portugal’s creative connections. Portugal’s World Cup campaign will continue as the face of the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo, while the strings of their success will be wrapped around the fingers of Bruno and his midfield brethren.
However, the journey to get here has not been easy for the 31-year-old.
After a rather forgettable season in 2024/25, where he played under then-manager Ruben Amorim at United, he still managed 19 goals and 19 assists. United finished 15th and also missed out on silverware as they lost 1-0 to Tottenham in the Europa League final.
In an attempt to force Fernandes to play deep outside, the Portuguese talisman lost a little of his spark and frustration boiled over on the pitch. Things were not smooth sailing on the pitch either.
In an interview last December, he said United wanted him to leave in the 2025 summer transfer window, which hurt him.
28.º De Bruno Fernandes Por Portugal 🎩🪄#VaidarPortugal | @B_Fernandes8 pic.twitter.com/ueDSXQX3tx
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) 8 June 2026
“I could have left in the last transfer window; I would have earned more money. But, from the club’s side, I thought a little bit, ‘It’s not so bad for us if you leave’. It hurts me a little bit. I was valued and the most important thing for me has to be my club, although lately I feel like I’m back,” he said.
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But things improved when Amorim was sacked and Michael Carrick arrived. The 31-year-old was restored to his usual No.10 role and, unsurprisingly, in a free role, he led United to a third-place finish in transition in the 2025/26 season. He also broke the Premier League record of 21 assists and was named Premier League Player of the Season. According to Opta, Fernandes has created 136 chances this season, the most in Europe’s big-five leagues.
An in-form Bruno could be an ominous sign for Portugal’s opponents at the World Cup. The maestro will have more freedom in national colors with PSG’s Vitinha and Joao Neves and, on occasion, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.
This will enable Fernandes to get high, get close to the opposition’s penalty box and fire a wicked shot towards goal or find a Hollywood pass, which could work better for Portugal than Manchester United, AC Milan’s Rafael Leo, Chelsea’s Pedro Neto and Juventus’ Francisco Conces down the target.
A dual role
With Ronaldo failing to score at Euro 2024 as well as in recent warm-up matches against Chile and Nigeria, Portugal may need Fernandez to fill in as a goal scorer of necessity. The 31-year-old has scored 29 goals in 87 appearances, most recently in a friendly against Chile.
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Bruno wants Portugal to do for Ronaldo what Argentina did for Lionel Messi at the 2022 World Cup: win the whole thing.
“I will do my best to make my country proud. To win this last World Cup with Cristiano would be something amazing. I really hope we can make it happen, not just for Portugal but for everything Cristiano has given to football and to the world,” he told Wayne Rooney on the BBC podcast ahead of the World Cup.
When Portugal take on DR Congo on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see if Fernandes can pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and win the whole thing, or if it will be another false dawn, which Bruno witnessed firsthand at United, where hope sometimes glimmers before giving way to total darkness.