Despite yet another season filled with turmoil under Ruben Amorim, Manchester United went into the international break on the back of a win. The Red Devils ran out 2-0 winners over Sunderland last time out, thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko.
United supporters will be hoping this can be a catalyst for their season to get underway. Things have still never really got going under Amorim, who has struggled to make an impact in almost a year in charge.
With Liverpool their next opponent after the international break, United will be looking to win back-to-back games under their Portuguese boss for the first time.
As is so often the case, Bruno Fernandes will be someone they will heavily rely on.
Fernandes’ biggest moments under Amorim
As you might expect, United’s talismanic midfielder has been one of Amoirm’s key players during the 11 months or so he’s been at Old Trafford.
Often deploying Fernandes in a pivot in midfield has meant he is further away from goal, causing some controversy, with Paul Scholes claiming “he’s not got the discipline” to play there.
Yet, the United number eight has still managed to put up some impressive goal and assist numbers under his countryman, despite the deeper role.
In 43 games with Amorim as United’s boss, their captain has 17 goals and 12 assists to his name.
It’s hard to pinpoint his best contribution during Amoirm’s tenure. In European football, he scored and assisted ten goals in 11 games as United reached the Europa League final last term.
That included a magnificent hat-trick against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, to guide United into the quarter-final.
He was one of the best creators in that competition last season, too. Fernandes’ 3.09 key passes and expected assist tally of 0.36xA saw him rank in the top 2% of attacking midfielders in the Europa League.
United will need someone to share that goalscoring and creative burden with Fernandes, but they signed someone of the same ilk this summer.
The new United star who's looking like Fernandes
It was certainly an expensive summer for the Red Devils, with INEOS willing to splash the cash. They spent roughly £200m to improve their front three.
Sesko has already scored twice, and Matheus Cunha has suffered an injury, but impressed when he’s played.
However, the most exciting of United’s new forwards this season would surely have to be Bryan Mbeumo. The Cameroonian star joined the Red Devils from Brentford for a fee reportedly worth £65m up front.
It has been a fast start to life in Red for the attacker. Playing as one of Amorim’s number 10s in the infamous 3-4-2-1 system he deploys, the 26-year-old has scored twice and assisted once in eight appearances so far.
His first Premier League strike for the Red Devils was against Burnley before the last international break.
It is easy to see how the former Brentford star can shoulder the burden of creativity and goals at United and become the new Bruno-style player in Amorim’s side.
As Statman Dave said, he is the “complete package” going forward, and offers so much to the Mancunian giants in attacking areas. Like Fernandes, he is an “output machine”, in the words of content creator Ronaldo Brown.
The other way to tell just how similar Mbeumo will be to his captain is by looking at his underlying stats from the 2024/25 Premier League.
For example, last term he averaged 1.85 key passes for the Bees, which put him in the top 6% of Premier League forwards.
Key passes
1.85
94th
Progressive passes
3.72
92nd
Shot-creating actions
3.8
94th
Goal-creating actions
0.53
90th
Carries into penalty area
1.98
97th
It has been hugely important for United to assess the lack of attacking prowess in the squad, aside from Fernandes’ contribution.
Loaning Marcus Rashford to Barcelona drastically reduced their threat in the final third, especially with how well he’s performing in La Liga.
Yet, the addition of Mbeumo has been a huge benefit. The United number 19 can help shoulder some of Fernandes’ attacking, and has already hit the ground running in that famous Red shirt.