Benjamin Sesko says Bruno Fernandes has been a constant presence in his training and recovery this season, a relationship the forward credits as part of a sudden run of goals for Manchester United. Sesko, who joined the club from RB Leipzig last summer, has scored ten times in 30 appearances across all competitions, and eight of those goals have arrived in the 14 matches since the turn of the year.
Sesko described Fernandes as hands-on in sessions and around the training ground, saying the playmaker gives instructions before and after training and during drills. He added that he tries to follow Bruno's advice immediately and is grateful for the chance to learn from him. Speaking about Fernandes’s season, Sesko said his team-mate is ‘‘great’’ and that, in his view, Fernandes should win the Player of the Year honour.
The numbers underline why that argument is loud in Manchester. Fernandes sits two assists short of the Premier League single-season record of 20, a mark set by Thierry Henry in 2002/03 and matched by Kevin De Bruyne in 2019/20. With the league’s player and manager awards usually announced in mid-May, the final weeks of the campaign are likely to be decisive for both the record and individual prizes.
Sesko’s turnaround is the kind of secondary story Manchester United need if they are to get the most from Fernandes’s late-season push. After a difficult start to life at Old Trafford, the Slovene striker’s goal burst since January has given the manager more attacking options and offered a reminder that a player can still find form after an unsettled opening period.
There is a tension between the tidy season-long headline and the underlying detail: Sesko’s overall return remains ten goals in 30 games, a useful tally but one that speaks to inconsistency across the campaign. His hot streak—eight in 14—could be the start of a sustained improvement, or it could be a short run that papered over earlier struggles. For Fernandes, the tension is different: two assists separate him from a record shared by two of the Premier League’s iconic creators, but those final assists require team moments to fall in his favour and for United to keep producing the chances.
The player-of-the-year conversation is crowded. Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are all expected to be in contention, meaning Fernandes must not only chase a numerical record but also sustain a wider, consistent influence on results to win the accolade. That context sharpens the stakes for both man and club as the season closes.
For Sesko, the immediate question is whether the recent goals are the start of a new normal. He has been public about listening and learning from senior players; his praise for Fernandes is both personal and tactical. United will need him to keep scoring if Fernandes is to be the playmaker his season statistics suggest. Fans will watch the closing fixtures with two separate but linked hopes: that Fernandes completes the assists chase and that Sesko’s late run becomes a selection problem of abundance rather than a reminder of earlier adaptation issues.
Sesko’s comments give a simple closing note: the club’s progress this spring depends on small, daily things—advice taken on the training pitch, decisions made in the box—and on whether those details can be turned into the decisive moments that hand Fernandes the record and lift United’s form. For now, Sesko is clear about where he stands: he believes in his team-mate and the chance to learn from him, and he expects the work to show up on the scoresheet as the season reaches its finale. See also reporting on Manchester United F.c. Games: Dorgu Spotted at Old Trafford Ahead of Brentford Match and the club’s kit and squad notes in recent coverage.
