Manchester United are taking a huge risk with Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United can't seem to catch a break at the moment.

The season is just weeks old and Erik ten Hag's side have just three wins from seven games in the Premier League and none in two in the Champions League. The defence of the Carabao Cup may have started well with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, but there's no getting around the fact that United have got big problems already.

The Reds have suffered particularly badly with injuries so far this campaign, with the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Sergio Reguilon all spending time on the treatment table.

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Things are far from ideal, but if United boss Ten Hag is not careful, he could soon lose one of his most important players to injury. New data which analysed 1,800 professional players from world players' union FIFPro shows Bruno Fernandes played 6,666 minutes between September 15, 2022, and September 15, 2023 - more minutes than any other player included in the study.

The risk for United is a fairly simple one: the more competitive minutes any player is given will only increase the risk of them pulling something, overexertion or even burnout. This at a time when players are already starting to rally against the number of fixtures in the calendar.

Fernandes' United teammate Raphael Varane previously said in August that the number of fixtures players are having to take part in is 'at a dangerous level for players’ physical and mental well-being'. In a tweet, the centre-back wrote: "We had a meeting last week with the FA. They recommended from the referees new decisions and