The 28-year-old has played 92% of all available minutes for Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils this season and started all but three of their 45 matches in all competitions in 2022-23. As with Liverpool last season, United remain in every competition they’re competing and could end the season playing the maximum possible number of games.
Not only has Fernandes featured prominently for his club this season, but he also played over 500 minutes for Portugal, including four appearances in the mid-season World Cup out in Qatar.
“Bruno can cope with load standards that are really high and can take a lot of games,” Ten Hag said of his decision not to rest Fernandes more this season.
“He is a very fit player and so important for this team. First as captain, he’s an example on the pitch with the energy he puts in, and for our tactical approach in both the transition moments.
“Bruno is so important for this team. He’s a great example for everyone in the squad. I will think of rotating from a tactical approach – but sometimes from a load approach as well. We will have a look at it – but once again the next game is the most important, so we will play what we see as the best team.”
It’s unusual for an outfielder to clock up quite so many minutes. Fernandes edges out his Manchester United team-mate David de Gea as the player with the most minutes played in Europe this season, while fellow goalkeepers Alexander Nubel, Rui Patricio, Alex Remiro and Gianluigi Donnarumma make up half of the top 10.
De Gea has played every single minute of United’s Premier League campaign to date. The same is true of Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski, Illan Meslier, Gavin Bazunu, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jose Sa, Max Kilman, Aaron Ramsdale, Ederson, James Ward-Prowse, David Raya, Declan Rice and Danny Ward.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde are third and tenth respectively in the top 10, while Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is up in ninth. The forward international had a mid-season break after Egypt failed to qualify for Qatar 2022, which might have been for the best given he clocked up thousands of minutes for club and country last term. With Jurgen Klopp’s Reds out of Europe and competing on just one front, Salah’s run-in should be relatively serene.
Marcus Rashford (3210) and Harry Kane (3310) narrowly miss out on making this list. With Tottenham out of all cup competitions, England captain Kane shouldn’t be too overloaded for the remainder of the captain but Rashford – still competing on three fronts for United and arguably just as integral for Ten Hag as Fernandes – could well end the season in the top 10.
With credit to The Athletic for crunching the numbers, here are the 10 players to have clocked up the most minutes in Europe in 2022-23 so far:
1. Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) – 3,751
2. David de Gea (Man Utd) – 3,690
3. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) – 3,510
4. Axel Disasi (Monaco) – 3390
5. Alexander Nubel (Monaco) – 3390
6. Rui Patricio (Roma) – 3330
7. Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad) – 3330
8. Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG) – 3330
9. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 3318
10. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) – 3314
Source: uk.sports.yahoo.com
