Bruno Fernandes

Profile Overview

Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (European Portuguese: [ˈbɾunu fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born 8 September 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United, which he captains, and the Portugal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
Fernandes started his career at Italian Serie B side Novara but soon made a move to Serie A side Udinese in 2013, followed by Sampdoria three years later. After five years in Italy, he signed with Sporting CP in 2017. He won back-to-back Taças da Liga in 2018 and 2019, as well as the Taça de Portugal, leading to him being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year and Primeira Liga Player of the Year in both seasons. In 2018–19, he scored a record of 33 goals in all competitions, making him the highest-scoring Portuguese midfielder and the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe in a single season.
In January 2020, Fernandes signed with United for an initial €55 million (£47 million), becoming at the time the second-highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league. He has become a focal player for United, making more than 300 appearances for the club. Collectively, he has won the FA Cup and EFL Cup; he also contributed to the club reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2021 and 2025, being the competition's top scorer in those two seasons, and the FA Cup final in 2023. In 2026, Fernandes was awarded the FWA Footballer of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Players' Player of the Year. He also won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season for registering 21 assists, simultaneously breaking the record for most assists in a single Premier League season (a joint record in the top 5 leagues alongside Thomas Müller in the Bundesliga and Lionel Messi in La Liga).
Fernandes is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at under-19, under-20, under-21 and under-23 levels. He represented Portugal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He made his senior international debut in 2017, and has been capped more than 90 times. Fernandes was chosen in Portugal's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, 2022 and 2026, the UEFA European Championship in 2020 and 2024, and the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2019 and 2025, winning the latter competition both times while also being named to its Team of the Tournament in 2019.