Fernandes playing through pain for three games as United brace for potential absence

Bruno Fernandes has been playing through pain for at least three Manchester United matches, Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus confirmed during the international break, raising fresh concerns over the availability of United’s most important player.

Jesus left Fernandes out of Portugal’s squad for their match against Norway, citing the knock as a factor behind the captain’s dip in form. “He said he’s been dealing with that pain for about three games, and that was one of the factors that prevented him from being at his usual level against Wales,” Jesus said, with United’s medical staff in contact with their Portuguese counterparts throughout.

Jesus’s timeline of “about three games” maps onto United’s fixtures against Manchester City, Brighton, and Fulham. The club have privately indicated that Fernandes had to fight to be fit for the Premier League matches against City and Fulham specifically.

The injury appears to trace back to United’s Champions League game against Sabah, after which Fernandes was seen limping away from the stadium. Manager Michael Carrick kept him on the pitch for the full 90 minutes despite United leading 3-0 at half-time — a decision he was pressed on afterwards. “We only had five subs. We had to make certain decisions on what that looked like,” Carrick said. “But yeah, of course, he’s like anybody else. He has played an awful lot, but I think we’re developing the group and the squad to be able to accommodate that in different ways.”

Fernandes has featured in all seven of United’s games this season, logging 558 minutes — more than any other player in the squad. It is a pattern that has defined his time at Old Trafford: he finished second for minutes played last season, first the season before that, third in 2023/24, and second in both 2021/22 and 2022/23.

That relentless availability has made him almost impossible to plan around losing. No United manager in the past seven years has had to answer the question of where the club would be without him — and Carrick, already fighting for his own future, may be the first forced to find out.

With Patrick Dorgu the latest addition to an already lengthy injury list that includes Matthijs de Ligt, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, and Amad, the prospect of Fernandes missing time next month represents a significant test of a squad that has already been stretched thin.