IT’S an understatement to say Bruno Fernandes (£6.5m) wouldn’t win a popularity contest among football fans.
Manchester United’s new club captain finds it difficult to temper his competitive urges on the pitch and, consequently, he’s prone to a moan as well as full-blown strops.
His petulant nature asks Dream Team managers a question that has endured ever since the inception of The Sun’s beloved fantasy game: Are you able to discard your personal feelings for the good of your team?
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For all his on-pitch villainy, there can be no doubt that Fernandes has been a top-tier Dream Team asset since his arrival at Old Trafford in January 2020.
Eight goals and seven assists in his first 14 Premier League games after his mid-season transfer proved to be a taste of things to come.
The Portugal international plundered 28 goals and 17 assists in all competitions the following campaign with his Dream Team ownership surpassing 75% at one stage, deservedly so.
Granted, Fernandes benefited from a plethora of penalties that season but his stats were phenomenal even with spot-kicks discarded – 32 non-penalty goal involvements is outstanding for a midfielder.
2021/22 was something of a fallow season by Fernandes’ standards but it’s a measure of the standards he’s set for himself that a campaign in which he scored ten league goals was deemed well below par.
Last term, he rediscovered his best form, particularly from the World Cup onwards, to register 283 Dream Team points, the highest tally among assets in his position.
The 28-year-old scored 14 goals and provided 15 assists in all competitions to pip Kevin De Bruyne (£7m) at the top of the midfield rankings, which is a serious achievement in its own right given the Belgian’s significant contribution to Manchester City’s treble.
Additionally, Fernandes earned 12 Star Man awards in 2022/23, more than any other player, but with that aspect of the game having been removed for this coming season, will he be as successful?
While Star Man awards are now a thing of the past, players will continue to reap rewards for individual brilliance and Fernandes’ lofty ranking in several key attacking stats should serve him well.
In 2023/24, players will receive one point for every big chance created (as defined by OPTA) and guess who topped this metric in the Premier League last season with 32… yep, our man of the hour.
Furthermore, Dream Team assets will earn one point for every shot on target and no midfielder registered more than Fernandes in the top flight last term.
Star Man awards may be a thing of the past but the statistical factors that earned Fernandes a dozen of them remain a huge factor in how points are scored.
In fact, if the new scoring system had been implemented last season, he would have finished on 346 points and his lead over De Bruyne would have been even greater.
At £6.5m Fernandes is a costly asset, only four players will start the campaign at a higher price, but if he carries on where he left off before the summer break then he should be a worthy investment.
Saying that, it will be interesting to see whether Mason Mount’s (£3.5m) switch to Man United has an impact on Fernandes’ returns.
One of reasons the latter has amassed so many points in recent years is because he’s often been a one-man army in terms of midfield creativity and attacking threat but the 24-year-old England international has been signed to share those burdens.
Fernandes features in 26.6% of teams created at the time of writing.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
