Let’s face it, Bruno Fernandes was far from at his best on the opening weekend, the Manchester United skipper perhaps suffering from a lack of pre-season minutes.

There was fear that it might take a while for the 31-year-old to get up to speed following his World Cup commitments, having suffered as much two years ago.

Indeed, following the last Euros, Fernandes was a real slow starter in 2024/25, taking until November, and the arrival of interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, to score his first Premier League goal of that season.

Thankfully, there’s been no such woes this time around, even if he might not actually be the star of United’s campaign so far.

Why Fernandes continues to make Amorim look silly

Last season, for all the chaos, was arguably the best of Fernandes’ time at Old Trafford so far, the playmaker recording a record-breaking tally of Premier League assists.

He hadn’t exactly been off the boil under Ruben Amorim in the first half of the campaign, although the ex-Sporting CP man truly came alive with Michael Carrick in the dugout.

The difference? Well, the shift to a 4-2-3-1 has, surprise surprise, seen Fernandes get back to his best again, with Amorim’s use of him in a deep-lying role still looking particularly egregious.

Amorim, alongside Fernandes’ wife, appear to have been integral in tempting the skipper to stay a year ago, but the now AC Milan manager’s tactics simply did not play to the strengths of this team’s best player.

38 goals and assists were recorded regardless in 2024/25, but that speaks more to Fernandes’ single-mindedness than the suitability of that much-maligned 3-4-2-1 system.

Now far closer to goal, even spearheading the attack at times, the £300k-per-week maestro has been immense, with four goals already chalked up this season.

He’s in a rich vein of form again, and he’s not alone in that regard.

Why Man Utd star would have thrived under Fergie

There’s so often a debate about where Fernandes ranks with regard to the greats of United’s recent past, as too whether he would fit into Sir Alex Ferguson’s fabled sides of the Premier League era.

The lack of silverware has always been the issue for the £60m signing, but in terms of individual talent and match-winning quality, Old Trafford has seen few better - ever.

Honed in the right way, his personality and talismanic quality would have been right at home under Fergie, the prospect of Fernandes lining up behind, say, Van Nistelrooy, a truly mouthwatering prospect.

There’s few others of late who’d even come close to that kind of conversation, but surely Kobbie Mainoo is in with a shout, the 21-year-old arguably even outshining his captain as the key man of this season so far.

Perhaps you could even say he’s been the best player of 2026 at Old Trafford, with United’s rise under Carrick coinciding with Mainoo’s return to the starting lineup.

Even more so than the handling of Fernandes, Amorim’s treatment of the club’s golden boy truly does boggle the mind, with the Red Devils such a better team with the youngster in it.

As the song belting around Old Trafford on Thursday night goes, ‘Mainoo, United can’t play without you… and it’s breaking my heart, when you don’t start’.

That’s an apt assessment of a player who surely would have flourished in any era, such a technically gifted, natural midfield talent.

A local lad whom Ferguson and co would have thrown into the mix, a la Class of 92, Mainoo showed his class again against Sabah, putting in a midfield masterclass in truth.

The home crowd were purring at every intervention, every turn, every threaded pass, with the Stockport native spraying long passes at will to add a further string to his bow.

Twice in quick succession he swept a lofted ball out to Bryan Mbeumo with pinpoint accuracy, showcasing again why journalist Tyrone Marshall has tipped him to become a “£100m player”.

In today’s inflated market, he’s arguably already there, having been immense too against both Ipswich Town and Everton.

It was telling that Carrick’s men wilted without him against Hull City, while the equaliser for the Toffees last weekend also came after he’d been substituted for new man Andrey Santos.

Fernandes, and rightly so, continues to dominate the headlines, but it is Mainoo who has been the story of 2026/27 so far.

Amorim, and Thomas Tuchel, have plenty to answer for.