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It's generally true that goal-scorers get most of the adulation in football.
That said, there has been renewed focus on those providing the telling contributions to those goals since such data began being collected in earnest in the Premier League era.
Bruno Fernandes might not have enjoyed much team success of late, but the Manchester United captain has the chance in 2025/26 to claim a slice of history in England's top flight. He is tantalisingly close to setting an all-time record.
Here, The Sporting News looks over the best individual seasons when it comes to assists since the Premier League began in 1992.
MORE: Updated rankings in the EPL Golden Boot race
Most Premier League assists in a single season
Bruno Fernandes now holds the Premier League record for assists in a season with 21 in the 2025/26 campaign. The Man United star set a new mark in the final match of the season as he delivered the pass which saw Patrick Dorgu put United 1-0 up over Brighton.
This broke the previous record for the most Premier League assists in a single season, which was jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, who both managed 20 in one campaign.
Henry racked up his superb assist tally at Arsenal, in the 2002/03 season, while De Bruyne laid on 20 assists for City in 2019/20.
De Bruyne's 20 in 2019/20 was his best single-season return at City, after making 18 assists in 2016/17, and 16 in 2017/18.
Former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil in fourth place in the one-season list, with 19 assists in 2015/16. Ozil's haul is followed by former Chelsea duo Frank Lampard and Cesc Fabregas, along with Mohamed Salah in Liverpool's title-winning campaign of 2024/25 and De Bruyne's 2016/17 efforts.
Most Premier League assists in a single season
| 2025/26 | Bruno Fernandes | 21 |
| 2019/20 | Kevin De Bruyne | 20 |
| 2002/03 | Thierry Henry | 20 |
| 2015/16 | Mesut Ozil | 19 |
| 2024/25 | Mohamed Salah | 18 |
| 2004/05 | Frank Lampard | 18 |
| 2014/15 | Cesc Fabregas | 18 |
| 2016/17 | Kevin De Bruyne | 18 |
| 2007/08 | Cesc Fabregas | 17 |
| 2022/23 | Kevin De Bruyne | 16 |
| 1992/93 | Eric Cantona | 16 |
| 2017/18 | Kevin De Bruyne | 16 |
| 1994/95 | Matthew Le Tissier | 15 |
| 1995/96 | Steve McManaman | 15 |
| 1999/00 | David Beckham | 15 |
| 1999/00 | Nolberto Solano | 15 |
| 2001/02 | Robert Pires | 15 |
| 2011/12 | David Silva | 15 |
| 2016/17 | Christian Eriksen | 15 |
| 2017/18 | Leroy Sane | 15 |
| 2018/19 | Eden Hazard | 15 |
How did Bruno Fernandes break single-season assist record?
From a chance creation standpoint, Bruno Fernandes's 2025/26 season was one for the ages.
The 31-year-old Portugal international did not just set the league record for assists, he did so in utterly outrageous fashion. He collected 133 shot assists over the course of the campaign, an incredible 59 more than anyone else in the entire league.
By the end of the season, the 21 assists in 34 appearances for Fernandes this season put him nine more than nearest rival Rayan Cherki.
He pulled level with Henry and De Bruyne's all-time mark by teeing up Mbeumo in Manchester United's 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on May 17, before setting the record on May 24 in the final match of the season.
21 - Bruno Fernandes has become the first player in Premier League history to assist 21 goals in a single season in the competition. Record. pic.twitter.com/JwHR8I3kBK
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 24, 2026Most assists all-time in Premier League history
De Bruyne broke the 100 Premier League assist mark in 2022/23, becoming only the fifth player to register over a century of assists in Premier League history, alongside Ryan Giggs, Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Lampard.
| Player | Team(s) | Assists | Appearances | |
| 1. | Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 162 | 632 |
| 2. | Kevin De Bruyne | Chelsea, Manchester City | 119 | 288 |
| 3. | Cesc Fabregas | Arsenal, Chelsea | 111 | 350 |
| 4. | Wayne Rooney | Everton, Manchester United | 103 | 491 |
| 5. | Frank Lampard | Chelsea, Manchester City | 102 | 609 |
| 6. | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal | 94 | 315 |
| 7. | David Silva | Manchester City | 93 | 309 |
| 8. | Mohamed Salah* | Chelsea, Liverpool | 93 | 324 |
| = | Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | 92 | 504 |
| 10. | James Milner* | Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion | 90 | 657 |
| 11. | Ashley Young | Watford, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Everton | 84 | 485 |
| 12 | David Beckham | Manchester United | 80 | 265 |
| 13. | Christian Eriksen | Tottenham, Brentford, Manchester United | 78 | 310 |
14. | Teddy Sheringham | Tottenham, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham | 76 | 418 |
15. | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 74 | 258 |
| 16. | Andrew Cole | Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland | 73 | 414 |
| 16. | Bruno Fernandes* | Manchester United | 72 | 230 |
| 17. | Son Heung-min | Tottenham | 71 | 333 |
| 19. | Darren Anderton | Tottenham, Birmingham City | 69 | 319 |
| = | Stewart Downing | Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton, West Brom | 69 | 408 |
*Denotes active player still in the Premier League
Most assists in a Premier League match
The most assists by one player in a single Premier League match is four (4). Seven players have managed it, and four of them played for Arsenal at the time.
The first player to achieve the feat was Dennis Bergkamp, who provided four assists in the Gunners' 5-0 win over Leicester City in February 1999.
The trick was not repeated until 2006, by Bergkamp's teammate Jose Antonio Reyes in Arsenal's 7-0 thrashing of Middlesbrough, as Henry scored a hat-trick, to equal Cliff Bastin's record of 150 league goals for the Gunners.
Cesc Fabregas racked up four assists for Arsene Wenger's side, as they beat Blackburn Rovers 6-2 in October 2009.
Three years later, former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor set up four goals in an amazing first half, as Tottenham cruised to a 5-0 win over Newcastle.
Arsenal were the common theme again in the record books, as Santi Cazorla laid on four goals in 2010, as the Gunners beat Wigan Athletic 4-1.
It would be another seven years until Harry Kane set up four goals for Son Heung-min, as Tottenham hammered Southampton 5-2. Then, in August 2021, Paul Pogba became the first non-Spurs or Arsenal player to make four assists in a game in Manchester United's 5-1 demolition of Leeds United.
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