Bruno Fernandes has won the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Season award ahead of Declan Rice and Erling Haaland. Manchester United’s captain beat the Arsenal midfielder by 28 votes after gaining 45% of the overall share for his potentially record-breaking season.
Fernandes, 31, has 19 assists across 32 appearances in the Premier League, one away from equalling the record that Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry hold. Three more matches remain for the Portugal international to match or surpass their totals, and he also has eight goals in addition to all of those set up for teammates.
United’s remaining fixtures for Fernandes to add to his tally are away to Sunderland, at home to Nottingham Forest and a final-day trip to play Brighton & Hove Albion. Their win over Liverpool at Old Trafford last time out secured Champions League qualification for next season.
Fernandes’ head coach, Michael Carrick, has paid tribute to his captain for winning the award. He said: “It’s fantastic. I’m delighted for Bruno, and I think he fully deserves it.
“With an award like this that’s judged over such a long period of time, I think whoever gets it is fully deserving of it, and I think Bruno, this season that he’s had, and certainly since I’ve been here, how he’s performed and the impact that he’s had on the group, has been fantastic.
He added: “I think it gets to a stage of your career where you evolve and you learn, probably 29/30/31/32, you’re in a really good place, you know, you’ve gained a lot of experience, physically you’re in probably your peak, and he’s shown that he’s in his best years and the level of performances has been, as the award shows, better than most.”
Carrick continued: “I don’t think he’s necessarily an individual award-type driven player. I think he’s a team player. He shows that in his leadership and he’s the captain and he leads his group. It just shows that consistency over a long period of time, the level of performance against some fantastic players that are in our league.”
Fernandes is the first United player to win the award since Wayne Rooney in the 2009/10 season. Seven others have done so, dating back to Johnny Carey for the 1948/49 season, a year after its inagruation as an award.
Sir Bobby Charlton was the second United player to win it in 1965/66, with team-mate George Best earning the honour two years later in 1967/68. After almost a three decade wait, Eric Cantona scooped it in 1996/97.
That win was the first of three successes in six years for United players, with Roy Keane winning it in 1999/2000, followed by Teddy Sheringham in 2000/2001. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only United player to win it more than once, earning the award in 2006/07 and then again in 2007/08.