Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been named the men’s player of the year by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).
Fernandes picked up the award at the PFA’s annual awards ceremony on Tuesday in Manchester, seeing off competition from Arsenal‘s Declan Rice and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
Voted for by his fellow professionals, Fernandes takes the prize after his arguably most impressive year yet at Old Trafford — which saw him register a record-breaking 21 assists in the Premier League last term.
He also scored nine goals in the top flight as United turned around their season to finish in third, and becomes the first United player to win the award since Wayne Rooney in 2010.
Read more:Manchester United win friendly over Leeds after shootout
Having joined from Sporting CP in 2020, the 31-year-old surpassed 200 goal contributions for United in February in all competitions.
The Portugal international had already scooped both the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) and the Premier League’s player of the year awards earlier this summer.
There was a win on the other side of Manchester as Nico O’Reilly took home the men’s young player of the year award.
With 34 league appearances for Manchester City last season, O’Reilly enjoyed a breakout season under Pep Guardiola and was rewarded with a place in England‘s FIFA World Cup squad.
Read more:Leboeuf: Arsenal have ‘no other contenders’ after opening win vs. Coventry – ESPN Video
He hit a remarkable brace against Arsenal at Wembley as his side claimed the Carabao Cup in February.
Unsurprisingly, the Gunners are the best represented in the PFA Premier League team of the year — with five players included against City’s four, while Fernandes and Brentford‘s Igor Thiago rounding off the side.
PFA award winners (men’s)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)
David Raya; Jurriën Timber, Gabriel, William Saliba (Arsenal), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City); Declan Rice (Arsenal), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Rayan Cherki; Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Igor Thiago (Brentford).
Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough)
Dom Ballard (Leyton Orient)
Aaron Drinan (Swindon Town)
