Bruno Fernandes WINS PFA players’ player of the year to become first Man Utd star in 16 years to land coveted award

BRUNO FERNANDES has delivered a clean sweep of awards after being voted the PFA players’ player of the year. The Manchester United midfielder picked up the Premier League and FWA awards last season. Bruno Fernandes was crowned PFA player of the year for the 2025-26 season Credit: PA He was joined on the red carpet by wife Ana Pinho Credit: Getty And he pipped the likes of Declan Rice and Erling Haaland to the PFA award, which was voted for by his fellow top-flight stars. Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly won the young player of the year award at Manchester Opera House. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! Five of the title-winning Arsenal team got in the Premier League team of the year. Fernandes, 31, has been outstanding since arriving from Sporting Lisbon for £47million in 2020. He has become the first United player since Wayne Rooney in 2010 to win the PFA award. The Portuguese international was rewarded for a string of outstanding performances for United – even though they did not win any silverware – and he set a Premier League record of 21 assists. He was level on 20 assists with Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne before taking the record against Brighton on the final day of the season. He set up Patrick Dorgu’s opener in a 3-0 win which saw him score a ninth goal of the season. Most read in Football BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Fernandes had already written himself into United’s history books, surpassing David Beckham’s title as the club’s top creator. Beckham previously held the club’s record for the most assists in a single Premier League season, setting up 15 goals in the 1999/2000 campaign. Fernandes, who received the award from former United midfielder Juan Mata, said: “It’s a very proud moment. “Obviously, I’m very thankful for all of those that voted for me. “It was a special season individually for me, and I’m very proud that all the players have decided to vote for me. I am very, very grateful.” On his assist record, Fernandes added: “I hadn’t thought much about it until you guys started commenting so much. “Obviously, then when I started getting closer, I started thinking about it and everything. “But I think it got more into my strikers, because they were so eager to score the goal and to give me that assist, that sometimes they even forgot about their own game. Fernandes signed autographs on his way in Credit: Getty Fernandes was also named in the PFA team of the year Credit: PA Fernandes delivered superb numbers for the Red Devils last term Credit: Getty He collected the Football Writers’ Association gong in May from boss Michael Carrick Credit: PA “But I am very happy, because assisting means that someone is getting goals. “Obviously, we don’t play tennis, that we play for just ourselves, we play football. “We play for the team, we play for a club, we play for our fans and there’s nothing more special than that.” Asked if he is optimistic for the season after the Hull defeat, the United captain responded: “We’ve got a game at home that we want to win, and it is as simple as that. “We are not thinking too much about the ones that have gone.” At the awards ceremony, Hayden Hackney – now at Everton – was announced as the Championship player of the year for his exploits with Middlesbrough. Orient striker Dom Ballard won the League One award although he has since moved to Bristol City. Swindon forward Aaron Drinan took the League Two trophy. Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw won the women’s player of the year. Players are now only allowed to vote for the award in the division where they play. The PFA now stages the ceremony at the start of the season, meaning players are able to vote until June. Previously, the deadline was April for the May ceremony, meaning the season had not been completed. Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney also picked up merit awards in Manchester for their contributions to the game. Comment now