Bruno Fernandes has been nothing short of a revelation since joining Manchester United.
In his first season, he almost single-handedly lifted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side into the Champions League spots, scoring eight goals in just 14 games.
He earned multiple records that season, including becoming the first player to win consecutive United Player of the Month awards.
What followed was one of the best goalscoring records by a midfielder as Fernandes scored 18 goals in the Premier League and 28 in all competitions, to earn the club's Sir Matt Busby player of the season prize for a second successive year.
This season, though, Fernandes has not been able to live up to his lofty heights.
The Portuguese playmaker has had an up and down campaign. Fernandes has 35 goals and 45 assists in 102 games for United, but there has been just one assist and one goal in his last seven appearances.
And with United struggling for goals as of late, it's clear that they need his creativity and scoring prowess.
But why has his form dipped this season?
We know United ask a lot of the no.18 — and that could be exactly the reason why, and here's the kicker...
No player in world football made more senior appearances in all competitions in 2021 than Fernandes.
That includes his games with Portugal at EURO 2020; while he also made the most appearances for United during 2021.
Workload management is certainly something that has become more prevalent in the sport, with players sitting out of certain games after playing too many minutes in certain time periods.
However, United have seemingly needed Fernandes to play as much as he can — showing just how much the club have relied upon him since he joined.
Rangnick will look to get the best of Fernandes, arguably the club's best player - who is able to exploit opposition's defences as well as anyone in world football.
He could be crucial once this Rangnick has managed to get this team to gel, turning them into the "pressing monsters" he called for in his first week in the job. If United win the ball in the opposition half and have an unstructured team to attack, then there are few better players than Fernandes at exploiting that.
But an over reliance placed upon could see a further dip into 2022 — something United will do all they can to avoid and looking to maximise the potential of the 27-year-old superstar.
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