Why Fernandes was our marathon man

Another word could be endurance.

Fernandes simply does not stop running and has been trusted by every manager at the club since his arrival in January 2020.

Under Erik ten Hag in 2022/23, Bruno racked up a total of 59 appearances - the most of any player in Europe's top five leagues.

It is no surprise then, that the Portuguese finds himself at the head of United's distance-covered table for our most recent Premier League season.

We can reveal that, for the 2022/23 campaign, Fernandes covered a remarkable 402.5 km in the Premier League.

This is almost 100 km more than our second highest distance; Marcus Rashford's 307.2 km.

Of course, the number of league appearances plays a role in these final totals, but Bruno also tops United's list for the most distance covered in a single fixture.

When the Reds defeated Tottenham 2-0 at Old Trafford in October, our no.8 got on the scoresheet and also covered an incredible 12.26 km during the match.

Such performances and endurance have contributed to Bruno's overall distance in the 2022/23 Premier League season, which is the sixth highest in the division.

Fernandes is only bettered by Leicester's Timothy Castagne, Everton's Alex Iwobi, West Ham's Declan Rice, Brighton's Pascal Gross and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse, with Ward-Prowse racking up 433.4 km across the campaign, despite his team being relegated.

The numbers Bruno has put up speak to the way he plays the game and the commitment he shows every single week.

Our no.8 also has the second-highest number of sprints (589) in the Premier League for United this season, behind Rashford (650).

As the stats show, it's not only that Bruno gets about, it's that he does so with great intensity.

Fernandes's outstanding endurance - and eight goals and eight assists in the league - contributed heavily to our third-placed finish last term, and both he and the Reds squad will be looking to kick on even further in 2023/24.