Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (European Portuguese: [ˈbɾunu fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born 8 September 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United, which he captains, and the Portugal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
Fernandes started his career at Italian Serie B side Novara but soon made a move to Serie A side Udinese in 2013, followed by Sampdoria three years later. After five years in Italy, he signed with Sporting CP in 2017. He won back-to-back Taças da Liga in 2018 and 2019, as well as the Taça de Portugal, leading to him being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year and Primeira Liga Player of the Year in both seasons. In 2018–19, he scored a record of 33 goals in all competitions, making him the highest-scoring Portuguese midfielder and the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe in a single season.
In January 2020, Fernandes signed with United for an initial €55 million (£47 million), becoming at the time the second-highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league. He has become a focal player for United, making more than 300 appearances for the club. Collectively, he has won the FA Cup and EFL Cup; he also contributed to the club reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2021 and 2025, being the competition's top scorer in those two seasons, and the FA Cup final in 2023. In 2026, Fernandes was awarded the FWA Footballer of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Players' Player of the Year. He also won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season for registering 21 assists, simultaneously breaking the record for most assists in a single Premier League season (a joint record in the top 5 leagues alongside Thomas Müller in the Bundesliga and Lionel Messi in La Liga).
Fernandes is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at under-19, under-20, under-21 and under-23 levels. He represented Portugal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He made his senior international debut in 2017, and has been capped more than 90 times. Fernandes was chosen in Portugal's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, 2022 and 2026, the UEFA European Championship in 2020 and 2024, and the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2019 and 2025, winning the latter competition both times while also being named to its Team of the Tournament in 2019.
Fernandes was born in Maia, Metropolitan Area of Porto. Growing up, he supported Boavista and Manchester United. During his childhood, Fernandes used to play football on the streets with his older brother Ricardo, who was also a professional football player. His father, who had emigrated to Switzerland, wanted Fernandes to move with him, but he refused, due to the standard of Swiss football at the time.
Fernandes began his youth career at local club Infesta. Growing up, Fernandes was offered a youth contract at Porto's academy, but he went to local rivals Boavista, who offered him transportation to training, with his parents being unable to take him to Porto on a daily basis. Fernandes played most of his youth football with Boavista, starting his career as a centre-back, before being converted to an attacking midfielder at the age of 15, following a loan to Pasteleira.
On 27 August 2012, he joined Novara in Italy. Fernandes initially struggled in his new life in Italy, after suffering from homesickness and also had problems learning Italian. After his girlfriend moved to Italy, Fernandes quickly learned the language and began settling in the country, being nicknamed the "Maradona of Novara" and the "Mini Rui Costa". After only a few weeks with the youth sides, Fernandes was promoted to the first team in Serie B, and went on to appear in slightly more than half of the league games during the 2012–13 season, helping his team to fifth place and the promotion play-offs.
Udinese and Sampdoria (2013–2017)
In summer 2013, Serie A clubs Inter Milan and Juventus wanted to sign him, but instead, Fernandes decided to sign for Udinese in a co-ownership deal, which promised him first-team opportunities. He made his debut in Serie A on 3 November, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–3 home loss against Inter Milan. Fernandes scored his first league goal on 7 December, in a 3–3 draw at Napoli. He scored again in the second match between the sides, a 1–1 draw.
On 16 August 2016, Fernandes moved to Sampdoria on loan with an obligation to be signed permanently. He made his league debut twelve days later, playing six minutes in a 2–1 home win over Atalanta. Fernandes scored his first goal for his new team on 26 September, in a 1–2 away loss to Cagliari. He scored five goals in 33 Serie A appearances during the campaign, helping them to finish in tenth position.
2017–2018: Primeira Liga Player of the Year
On 27 June 2017, after returning from the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Fernandes joined Sporting CP on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of €8.5 million plus bonuses. On 6 August, Fernandes made his debut for the club in a 2–0 home victory against Desportivo das Aves. He scored four goals in his first five Primeira Liga games, including a brace in a 5–0 away win against Vitória de Guimarães. Fernandes' first appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage was on 12 September, where he put the visitors 3–0 ahead in the 43rd minute of an eventual 3–2 win at Olympiacos. He finished his first season with 16 goals across all competitions, second only to Bas Dost and provided 20 assists, being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year and Primeira Liga Player of the Year.
On 15 May 2018, Fernandes and several of his teammates, including coaches, were injured following an attack by around 50 Sporting supporters at the club's training ground after the team finished third in the league and missed out on Champions League qualification. Despite the events, the team agreed to play in the final of the Taça de Portugal scheduled for the following weekend, eventually losing to Desportivo das Aves. Fernandes was named the Primeira Liga Player of the Year on 6 July. Four days later he signed a new five-year contract with a €100 million release clause, having turned back on his original decision to leave the Estádio José Alvalade following the departure of club president Bruno de Carvalho, and being given an improved salary in the process.
2018–2020: Highest-scoring midfielder in Europe
Fernandes scored his 23rd competitive goal of the 2018–19 campaign during a 3–1 home win against Portimonense on 3 March 2019, through a late penalty, surpassing António Oliveira's club record for goals by a midfielder in a season, set in 1981–82. On 5 May, he scored a hat-trick in an 8–1 away rout of Belenenses SAD, in the process becoming the highest-scoring Portuguese midfielder in a single season of all time, with 31 goals to his name. He scored his 33rd and final goal of the season on 25 May 2019, during Sporting's victory against Porto in the Taça de Portugal final. He was named Primeira Liga Player of the Year for the second successive year for his performances in the 2018–19 season.
He scored seven goals in his first 10 appearances of the 2019–20 season, including a run of scoring in six consecutive appearances. This made him the third Sporting player in the 21st century to score in six or more consecutive appearances for the club, after Mário Jardel and Bas Dost. On 28 November, he scored twice and assisted the other two goals in a 4–0 victory over PSV Eindhoven, which guaranteed Sporting qualification to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.
2019–2020: Europa League top scorer
On 29 January 2020, English club Manchester United confirmed they had reached an agreement with Sporting to sign Fernandes for a fee reportedly worth up to €80 million (£67.6 million), subject to him passing a medical and agreeing personal terms. The transfer was officially completed the following day, for an initial fee of around €55 million (£47 million), plus up to €25 million (£21 million) in add-ons and 10% of the profits of a future sale. Fernandes signed a five-and-a-half-year contract.