Bruno Fernandes Would Be Ballon D'Or Contender If He Played For Manchester City, Says Pogba

Paul Pogba believes Bruno Fernandes would be viewed as a serious Ballon d'Or contender if the midfielder represented Manchester City instead of Manchester United, despite already driving United's return towards Champions League football and producing some of the Premier League's best attacking numbers this season under Michael Carrick.

Fernandes is at the centre of United’s revival, with the Portuguese midfielder leading the Premier League assist chart on 18, leaving United close to securing Champions League qualification, and placing Fernandes among the standout creators in Europe during the 2025-26 campaign.

The 31-year-old has also scored eight league goals, meaning only Erling Haaland, with 30 goal involvements, has had a direct hand in more Premier League goals this season, underlining why Pogba links Fernandes with Ballon d'Or discussions when assessing individual performance levels across Europe.

Pogba, who shared Manchester United’s midfield with Fernandes for two-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford, argued on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast that wider recognition depends heavily on club context and trophies rather than statistics alone, which shapes how voters judge candidates for major individual awards.

"Do you think Bruno, if he's in the other team, he's not in the top three, a Ballon d'Or player?" Pogba said on theRio Ferdinand Presents podcast. "You put him in City, he's [in the] Ballon d'Or [top] three, he's in the Ballon d'Or."

Fernandes’ creative record includes 10 of those 18 assists coming away from Old Trafford, placing Fernandes in a small Premier League group with Muzzy Izzet in 2003-04, Cesc Fabregas in 2014-15 and Mohamed Salah in 2024-25 as the only players to reach double figures for away assists in a single league season.

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"Bruno Fernandes, with the stats, the season, the way he plays and everything, but when you don't win, you don't think about you, it's not. It's like, this is life, this is football. I know he's not physically the same as me but he cannot jump and recover the ball as I would do, but he can do everything. He can do everything. Like I said, Bruno Fernandes, in other big clubs, is in the top three Ballon d'Or, punto final."

Pogba stressed that opinions on style differ, yet believes professionals see Fernandes’ value. "Football lovers will always respect Bruno Fernandes. That you like his style is a different thing. If you like his style, the way he plays or not, this is different opinions. But football players, they will understand that this guy is a top player."

Across this season’s numbers, away creativity and influence on United’s attack, Bruno Fernandes is presented by Pogba as a player whose Ballon d'Or prospects are shaped as much by Manchester United’s results and profile as by Fernandes’ own output, even while peers and football followers continue to rate Fernandes as an elite performer.