The Manchester United captain registered 21 assists in 35 Premier League appearances during the 2025-26 season, surpassing the previous record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. The final assist came on the last day of the season at Brighton and Hove Albion, when his corner was headed home by Patrick Dorgu.
He also added nine goals to finish the campaign with 30 direct league contributions under manager Michael Carrick, who led United to a third-place finish and a return to Champions League football.
Fernandes won the Premier League Player of the Season award, the FWA Footballer of the Year, and the Golden Playmaker award. The assists record eclipsed his own club mark, and also broke a United record set by David Beckham in 1999-2000.
"These records only exist because of my teammates," Fernandes said.
Speaking to ESPN, he described the season as the product of habit and instinct rather than calculated planning.
"It's about not thinking too much. I believe it's clearly work, it's training, and also something that was born with me a little since childhood, which has always been one of my qualities, passing and shooting. But with that also came a lot of work."
Fernandes spent several years in Italy before joining Sporting CP, representing Sampdoria, Udinese, and Novara. It was at Udinese where he says the technical refinement that defines his game was most deliberately shaped.
"I had to spend a year, four months, training a lot, working a lot. I had two coaches who worked with me separately, technical coaches, so to speak, who made me even better."
He spoke particularly about the influence of former Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale, who gave him specific instruction on striking technique.
"With all of this I also had Di Natale, who taught me how to shoot the ball, how to position the body, how to take the steps before hitting the ball, the goalkeeper's positioning and the positions where we shoot."
Fernandes is currently contracted at Old Trafford until the summer of 2027, with an option for a further year. He is now 31 and has accumulated 104 assists in all competitions for United — fourth on the club's all-time list.
The record he just broke had stood in part for over two decades. He approached it quietly, then broke it on the final day of the season.