Bruno Fernandes has worn the look of a player exasperated and frustrated by Manchester United's disappointing campaign - but at least he can be satisfied with his own contributions.
The 27-year-old has struggled to reach the high bar set by his first 18 months in England, as reflected by his penalty miss in the 3-1 defeat by Arsenal on Saturday. The £46.5m man has managed just nine goals in all competitions this term, compared to 12 in his first five months and an impressive total of 28 the following season.
However, the Portuguese midfielder's efforts cannot be faulted in trying to inspire Man United back to form as Rangnick's side currently sit seventh in the Premier League. The Portuguese playmaker has created 86 chances in the Premier League this season, the most by any player in the top flight, somewhat debunking the idea that his form has nosedived.
He is closely followed by Liverpool's creative menace Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has impressively carved out 83 opportunities for his team-mates this season. Next on the list is Manchester City's chief orchestator Kevin de Bruyne on 71, James Ward-Prowse with 67 and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka on 62.
The chief difference between the Fernandes and Alexander-Arnold is the number of assists they have been credited with. While Alexander-Arnold has pieced together fewer goalscoring chances, he has 12 assists to his name — double the amount what Fernandes has mustered with only six assists in the Premier League.
Incredibly, Mohamed Salah tops both charts for goals scored and assisted, but the Egyptian does not even make the top five for chances conjured. That points to an entirely different area for measuring playmaking statistics, such as expected assists, which may be higher for players who are positioned further up the field.
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But in the case of Fernandes, it paints a more worrying problem which incoming boss Erik ten Hag will be hoping to solve ahead of the new season when the Dutchman arrives. The 52-year-old was announced on Friday as successor to Ralf Rangnick on a three-year contract, and the Ajax coach will be tasked with bringing success back to Old Trafford after five years without a trophy.
Ten Hag will be encouraged to see Fernandes at the peak of his creative influence after two-and-a-half years in Manchester. But the issue is his attackers are simply not potent enough in front of goal to take advantage of the chances being put in front of them.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 goals this season, but it could be argued the Portuguese has been responsible for making those chances appear out of thin air. The next highest goalscorer is Fernandes on nine, with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho combining to score just seven goals between them, and Ten Hag will surely be hoping to solve that issue ahead of his arrival in June.
