Despite there being no major men’s international tournament, players in Europe’s top five leagues still played a lot of football in 2023. More than 50 of them played more than 4,500 minutes for club and country (the equivalent of 50 full 90-minute matches), and a select group clocked up more than 5,000 minutes. However, there is one player who stands way out in front of them all when it comes to sheer consistency and stamina: Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes, 29, is the only player among Europe’s elite to have played more than 70 games in 2023, and the only one to have seen more than 6,000 minutes of action in that calendar year. The Manchester United captain appeared in the Premier League, the Champions League and the Europa League as well as the FA Cup and Carabao Cup for his club. At international level, he was ever-present for Portugal in their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.