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By BEN WILLCOCKS, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Published: 05: 16 AEDT, 18 December 2025 | Updated: 07: 20 AEDT, 18 December 2025 31 View comments No outfield player has chalked up more minutes in world football than Bruno Fernandes over the last three years, according to new data released on Wednesday. The Manchester United captain, 31, has been a mainstay at Old Trafford ever since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in 2020, establishing himself as one of the Premier League's most reliable midfielders in terms of his availability. A regular 90-minute man under Ruben Amorim and previously Erik ten Hag, the Portuguese star has hardly missed a game for Manchester United over the course of the last three years, fortunately steering clear of major injury. According to the latest weekly post released by the Football Observatory on Wednesday, Fernandes has totalled a remarkable 16, 880 minutes from 192 matches for club and country, more than any footballer worldwide over the last three years excluding goalkeepers. The report, which takes into account minutes played in official matches only, saw Real Madrid and Uruguay midfielder Federico Valverde, 27, finish in second place with 16, 428 minutes, despite him having played seven games more than Fernandes during that period. Benfica and Argentina veteran Nicolas Otamendi, who played for Manchester City between 2015 and 2020 and is now 37 years old, was a surprise inclusion in third place having accumulated 16, 310 minutes from 187 matches. No outfield player has chalked up more minutes than Bruno Fernandes over the last three years The Portuguese star has hardly missed a game for Manchester United over the course of the last three years, fortunately steering clear of major injury to rack up 16, 880 minutes Benfica and Argentina veteran Nicolas Otamendi, who played for Manchester City between 2015 and 2020 and is now 37 years old, accumulated 16, 310 minutes from 187 matches Gustavo Gomez of Palmeiras and Wolves midfielder Jhon Arias, who joined from Fluminense last summer, round out the top five with 16, 040 and 15, 864 minutes respectively across the last three years. Five more Premier League stars featured inside the world's top 20 'most physically robust' players, with Arsenal's Declan Rice (8), Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk (11), Manchester City's Tijjani Reijnders (16), Chelsea's Moises Caicedo (19) and Sunderland's Granit Xhaka (20) all making the cut over the three-year spell. Caicedo and his Ecuador team-mate Willian Pacho, who plays for PSG, are the youngest to feature inside the top 20, each aged 24. Other notable names who have been used frequently by the clubs across the three-year window include Kylian Mbappe, Joshua Kimmich and Harry Kane. The 32-year-old England captain, who rarely ever misses out for Bayern Munich or the Three Lions, is the most-used centre forward in world football besides Mbappe, with 14, 491 minutes played since December 17, 2022. Van Dijk, who steered Liverpool to Premier League success during Arne Slot's first season at the club last campaign, is second on the list over the last two years with 11, 250 minutes, beaten only by Otamendi with 216 more. Over just the last 365 days, Atletico Mineiro centre-back Junior Alonso leads the way with 6, 036 minutes, followed by Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken and Otamendi. Marc Cucurella, who has become an integral part of both Chelsea's and Spain's defence over the past year, played more minutes than any Premier League player since December 17, 2024. Only Otamendi registered more minutes than Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk over the last two years In the three-year sample size, Harry Kane was the most durable striker besides Kylian Mbappe The left-back totalled an impressive 5, 615 minutes for club and country from 68 games, bettered by only six players worldwide. One of those footballers was PSG midfielder Vitinha, who helped steer the French giants to Champions League glory last summer. The Portuguese star played 5, 683 minutes and featured in a record 72 games over the course of the year, tied with Benfica and Greece striker Vangelis Pavlidis.
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