Man Utd star increases \u00a33.0m from last season and equals his highest ever starting cost<\/p>\n
If you want Bruno Fernandes in your opening squad for 2026\/27 Fantasy Premier League<\/a>, the Manchester United midfielder will set you back \u00a312.0m.<\/p>\n The Portuguese star has been handed the joint-biggest price rise from last season, up \u00a33.0m from when he started at \u00a39.0m in 2025\/26 and went on to finish as the second top-scoring player in Fantasy, amassing 235 points thanks to nine goals and 24 assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fernandes equals his highest ever cost in Fantasy. He was also priced at \u00a312.0m in 2021\/22 after being the top-scoring player in the season beforehand, with 244 points. \u00a0<\/p>\n Following the price reveal of Erling Haaland (\u00a315.5m) earlier today, this means buying the pair would cost a combined \u00a327.5m, compared with \u00a323.0m at the start of 2025\/26 Fantasy.<\/p>\n With managers having a budget of \u00a3100.0m at the start of each season, a double-up of Haaland and Fernandes leaves you with just \u00a372.5m to spend on the other 13 players in your 15-man squad.<\/p>\n Similarly to Haaland, it\u2019s Fernandes\u2019s high ownership last season and potential for huge captaincy hauls that are behind his price hike.\u00a0<\/p>\n He produced 12 double-figure hauls in 2025\/26, at least twice the total of any other player apart from Haaland and Bruno Guimaraes, who had 10 and eight respectively.<\/p>\n Improvement under Carrick<\/p>\n An assessment of last season shows that the appointment of Michael Carrick as head coach took Fernandes to another level in Fantasy.<\/p>\n The Portuguese had enjoyed a reasonable start to 2025\/26 under Ruben Amorim across the first 21 Gameweeks. Playing as one of two central midfielders in a 3-4-2-1 formation with wing-backs, he ranked fourth in his position in Fantasy on 106 points.<\/p>\n But after Carrick took charge in Gameweek 22, Man Utd\u2019s move to a 4-2-3-1 set-up allowed Fernandes the freedom to thrive in a No 10 role behind a lone striker.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, he was the top-scoring player in Fantasy across those final 17 Gameweeks of 2025\/26, producing 129 points at an average of 7.6 per match.<\/p>\n As shown in the table below, Fernandes was far more likely to deliver big hauls under Carrick, producing eight of his 12 double-digit scores for the season from Gameweek 22 onwards.<\/p>\n Fernandes’s stats before and after Carrick’s appointment<\/p>\n Metric Points Points per match Double-digit hauls Blanks Shots in box Big chances created Goal involvement Fernandes\u2019s consistency for attacking returns (goals and assists) was also transformed.<\/p>\n Remarkably, he scored or assisted in 14 of his 17 matches under Carrick, blanking on just three occasions. By contrast, he failed to deliver an attacking return in half of his 18 appearances prior to that spell.<\/p>\n In terms of underlying numbers, Fernandes\u2019s goal threat actually declined under Carrick \u2013 he had just 12 shots in the box from Gameweek 22 onwards, less than half his total of 28 beforehand.<\/p>\n But his potential for assists more than made up for that. His 22 big chances created (situations where a player is expected to score) under Carrick was TWICE his total of 11 before the Englishman\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n This helped Fernandes score or assist a talismanic 61 per cent of the Red Devils\u2019 goals for their new head coach, rising from only 39 per cent across Gameweeks 1-21.<\/p>\n Early captaincy potential<\/p>\n It\u2019s fair to say that Man Utd could barely ask for a kinder opening pair of fixtures to start the 2026\/27 campaign.<\/p>\n Back-to-back matches against promoted pair Hull City and Ipswich Town offer Fernandes the chance to immediately hit the ground running and bring in big hauls, making him a captain rival to Haaland.<\/p>\n And the Red Devils\u2019 longer-term schedule also indicates Fernandes will be a popular pick for Fantasy managers\u2019 early squads.<\/p>\n
\nGW1-21
\nGW22-38<\/p>\n
\n106
\n129<\/p>\n
\n5.9
\n7.6<\/p>\n
\n4
\n8<\/p>\n
\n9\/18
\n3\/17<\/p>\n
\n28
\n12<\/p>\n
\n11
\n22<\/p>\n
\n39%
\n61%<\/p>\n