On the final day of the Premier League season, with Manchester United visiting Brighton, Bruno Fernandes swung in a corner and Patrick Dorgu powered a header into the net. Assist number 21. Record broken. Just like that, on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday afternoon on the south coast, one of the greatest individual season performances in Premier League history was complete.
Let us be very clear about what he has done. Thierry Henry produced 20 assists in the 2002-03 season — the year before he became an Invincible. Kevin De Bruyne produced 20 assists in the 2019-20 season as part of one of the greatest City teams ever assembled. Two of the most gifted attacking players the Premier League has ever seen. Both at the peak of their powers. Both surrounded by elite teammates at elite clubs.
Bruno Fernandes has just beaten both of them. At Manchester United. In a season where United were nowhere near the title race. And he missed three matches.
That last point deserves to sit on its own for a second. Twenty one assists in a Premier League season and he was not even available for three of the games. The mind genuinely boggles at what the number could have been with a full complement of appearances.
He was also named Premier League Player of the Season the day before breaking the record. So in the space of 24 hours he collected the individual award for the best player in England's top flight and then immediately went out and broke a record that had stood for years. As a way to end a season that is almost impossible to top.
The easy thing to say is that United underachieved relative to how good Fernandes was. And that is true. He dragged this team through moments they had no business surviving. He was the difference between a Europa League place and a mid-table season. Without him the numbers look considerably worse.
But standing back and just appreciating what one player did in one season without turning it into a debate about the club or the manager or the transfer window — this was something special. A 31 year old Portuguese midfielder rewriting Premier League history on the last day of the campaign.
Fair play to him. Genuinely.
Let me know your thoughts.