Bruno Fernandes has produced remarkable numbers since making the move to Manchester United, quickly becoming the creative catalyst of the Red Devils’ side.
Fernandes signed for the club from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020 and has been amongst the most productive footballers in world football ever since, with the midfielder racking up his 50th Premier League goal involvement during the weekend draw with Everton.
The Portugal international last season broke the Premier League’s calendar year goalscoring record for a midfielder, and his latest goal involvement has seen the 26-year-old join some illustrious company.
Here are the four fastest players to reach 50 Premier League goal involvements.
Bruno Fernandes – 58 appearances
Fernandes registered his 50th goal involvement during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday, achieving the feat in just his 58th appearance in the Premier League.
It is a remarkable statistic for a midfielder, with Fernandes having posted extraordinary numbers to establish himself as one of the best in the division.
Fernandes’ mid-season arrival during the 2019/20 sparked an instant upturn in fortunes for the Red Devils, who went unbeaten following his January arrival to secure Champions League football, the winter window recruit boasting 15 goal involvements in just 14 appearances.
Bruno Fernandes in the Premier League for Manchester United:
▪️ 58 games
▪️ 30 goals
▪️ 20 assists— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 2, 2021
The 26-year-old ranked behind only Harry Kane for goals and assists in the league last season, amassing 30 in another campaign of huge productivity as the creative hub of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
His current record stands at 30 goals and 20 assists in just 58 appearances, a tally that looks set to continue rising throughout the 2021/22 campaign.
Eric Cantona – 54 appearances
Eric Cantona reached the landmark of 50 goal involvements in just 54 appearances, having been amongst the most transformative signings in Premier League history.
Cantona began the competition’s inaugural season at Leeds before joining rivals Manchester United, who he inspired to league title success with 20 goal involvements in 22 appearances in 1992/93 to end a 26-year wait for the Red Devils.
The Frenchman was the defining player of the Premier League’s early seasons as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team became England’s dominant force, winning four of the first five league titles with Cantona influential in each triumph.
Cantona’s finest campaign came in 1993/94 as he scored 18 goals and provided 12 assists, the forward’s performances recognised with the PFA Player of the Year award as United won a first-ever domestic double.
Alan Shearer – 54 appearances
Alan Shearer ranks alongside Cantona in joint-second, the former Blackburn forward also reaching the 50 goal involvement mark after 54 appearances.
Shearer signed for ambitious Blackburn ahead of the Premier League’s first season and started in spectacular form, scoring 16 goals and providing four assists in just 21 appearances before seeing his season curtailed through injury.
Shearer – who was signed in a British transfer record deal from Southampton – returned as clinical as ever, scoring 30+ goals in each of the next three league seasons for Blackburn and he remains the only player in Premier League history to reach 30 goals in more than one season.
After winning the Premier League title and scoring 112 league goals across four seasons for Blackburn, Shearer signed for boyhood side Newcastle in a £15m world record deal in 1996 and became the Magpies’ all-time record scorer across the next decade.
He retired in 2006 as a three-time winner of the Golden Boot and with a record-breaking 260 goals in the Premier League.
Andy Cole – 43 appearances
No player has ever reached 50 goal involvements in quicker fashion than Andy Cole, who enjoyed an explosive start to his Premier League career after firing Newcastle to promotion.
Newcastle returned to the top division in 1993/94, a season in which Cole produced one of the best – and most underrated – individual seasons in Premier League history.
Cole finished as the league’s leading scorer with a record 34 goals, whilst he also led the league for assists with 13 to be named as the PFA Young Player of the Season.
Cole remarkably reached the 50 goal involvement mark after only 43 appearances in the division, his performances for Newcastle persuading Manchester United to sign him in a £7m British transfer record deal in January 1995.
The forward won five league titles and the Champions League across seven seasons at Old Trafford, before spells at clubs such as Blackburn, Fulham and Manchester City during a nomadic latter career.
Cole retired from football with 187 goals in the Premier League, a figure bettered by only Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney.
