Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes faces losing his one-time record against Crystal Palace due to ‘serious injury’

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes could miss the first match of his club career tonight due to injury.

The 29-year-old has enjoyed an incredible journey that is the envy of every other professional footballer, having never missed a match for his club for anything other than illness in 12 years.

3

Fernandes played for five teams during his career, playing for Italian sides Novara, Udinese and Sampdoria before returning to his native Portugal with Sporting Lisbon.

He then joined United from Sporting in January 2020, making an immediate impact after winning the Premier League Player of the Month award four times in the same year.

A record that Fernandes shares with each of his clubs is that he has never missed a single match due to injury in over 500 appearances.

The Portuguese star has missed two solitary matches since turning professional, both due to illness.

Due to flu, he missed one match for Sampdoria in the 2016/17 season, then was absent in the 3-2 win over Tottenham in 2022.

His injury-free record is all the more remarkable given that no player among Europe’s elite played as much as he did last year.

Fernandes is the only one in the top five to have played more than 70 games in 2023, in over 6,000 minutes of action.

But the midfielder’s race is more dangerous than ever as he is expected to miss tonight’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.

3

Ten Hag confirmed his skipper is a major doubt due to a problem he suffered during the 1-1 draw against Burnley.

“Scott hasn’t trained so far this week, but I expect him to return to practice on Saturday,” Ten Hag told reporters on Thursday. “We have to see if he is available 100% or for part of the match.

“After the (Burnley) game we had a problem with Bruno. It is uncertain for Monday.

“We all know Bruno, never rule him out for any match, he will do his best to be available.”

Fernandes has been doubtful for several games this season due to minor injuries, but in typical fashion he has recovered to feature in all of them.

If he recovers tonight it would be his 158th Premier League appearance and his amount of football is clearly taking its toll.

But Simon Jordan recently argued that two-time Player of the Year winner Sir Matt Busby was exaggerating his problems.

Jordan told talkSPORT: “He has a high pain threshold? I wish I had a high stupidity threshold. If he had a serious injury he wouldn’t play, would he?

3

“He took a knock. It’s not just Fernandes. There are a lot of players. This argument that’s raging about characterizing players in a certain way… it’s their own initiative.

“These accusations of cheating, rolling, asking for cards and wasting time, these are all by-products of modern football.

“When you earn that nickname, that’s what you get. No matter how talented Fernandes is, Man United fans don’t have it right now.

“They don’t think he’s a leader, they think histrionics are unacceptable. He’s not the only one doing it, but he’s the captain of Man United and they’re focusing more.

“It doesn’t tarnish with another brush. If you turn around and make a four-act play out of something, then stand up and get involved in an attack, then you weren’t hurt enough in the first place .”