Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amoirm has shifted Bruno Fernandes' position in the United team
Bruno Fernandes has played every minute for Manchester United so far in 2025, but what is interesting isn't the amount of time the club captain is spending on the pitch but where he is spending it.
Fernandes has always been undroppable at United, not simply because he has the armband on, but because of his influence on the team as the most potent attacking weapon.
But that is something Ruben Amorim has begun to sacrifice. Fernandes has started and completed nine games in a row this year but in all bar one of them he has at least had a spell in a deeper midfield role. In the last three games, against FCSB, Crystal Palace and Leicester City, he has been a permanent fixture there as he develops a partnership with Manuel Ugarte.
That move partly came about after Kobbie Mainoo was moved further forward in Bucharest. Not only did the academy graduate impress as a No. 10, but Amorim has made it clear he has no intention to return the 20-year-old to a deeper role, admitting he was struggling with the defensive side of the game in midfield.
That has created a vacancy next to Ugarte, and Fernandes is the man to fill it. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are both only bit-part players now under the Portuguese head coach and it seems that both lack the physical attributes to play that role, and with Mainoo's defensive work under the spotlight, it only really leaves Fernandes and rookie midfielder Toby Collyer.
The partnership between Ugarte and Fernandes has shown early promise. The Uruguayan brings plenty of steel to the midfield and is excellent at winning the ball back and putting opponents under pressure. Fernandes brings a bit more composure and quality in possession, and with United's build-up play under Amorim still being a work in progress, that ability on the ball can be key in deeper areas.
Passing stats aren't yet available for the Leicester City game on FBRef, but the fixtures against Palace and FCSB ranked first and fifth for Fernandes this season in terms of passes he has attempted and second and third for successful passes. It shows the influence he now has in that role and the contribution he could make to United's structure from that position.
Moving Fernandes to that deeper role has been partly out of necessity, with options for that position next to Ugarte dwindling, but in that area of the pitch, it looks like a realistic option for the future for Amorim. His current problem is that every decision like that can have a knock-on effect, and taking Fernandes away from a No. 10 impacts United's creativity.
That is a major issue at the moment. Amad, Mainoo, and Alejandro Garnacho have filled those roles behind the striker lately, but they don't yet offer the same reliability and consistency as Fernandes as an attacking weapon. The 30-year-old's record of 88 goals and 78 assists in 269 games for the club is outstanding, but most of those contributions come from attacking midfield.
In time, United might be able to replace them, and Fernandes will still contribute from deeper, both in open play and from set-pieces. Amad has the potential to be a major source of goals and assists, and Garnacho has been this season, although he has yet to make one of those inside roles his own under Amorim.
Mainoo showed in that Europa League game in Bucharest that he has real strengths to bring to an attacking role, notably his ability to work in tight areas and manipulate the ball. He got on the scoresheet in that game and had at least one other good chance, but his momentum stalled when he pushed up to the striking role against Palace.
Right now, Mainoo, Amad, and Garnacho are works in progress. They have the ability to really make that role their own, but they don't yet offer the consistent level of goal threat that Fernandes did. That is the risk with moving the Portuguese playmaker back to a deeper role at this stage of the team's development.