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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has won the prestigious PFA Men’s Player of the Year award after a record-breaking 2025-26 season. Even after landing the biggest individual honour, the Portuguese playmaker revealed that he gave his own vote to a rival from Arsenal. Fernandes also praised the Gunners for their Premier League title-winning campaign and their impressive run to the Champions League final.

Fernandes claims top individual prize

Fernandes formally underlined his place as the Premier League’s outstanding performer by lifting the PFA Men’s Player of the Year prize on Tuesday evening. The event was held at the Manchester Opera House, where the Portugal international attended with his wife, Ana Pinho.

The 31-year-old earned the recognition after a superb 2025-26 campaign under Michael Carrick. Fernandes controlled the Red Devils’ midfield and broke the Premier League single-season assists record with 21 assists. His creativity played a crucial role in helping United finish third and qualify once again for the Champions League.

He finished ahead of two Manchester City players and three Arsenal players to take the award. As nominees are not allowed to vote for themselves under the rules, Fernandes had to choose a direct rival when submitting his ballot.

Secret ballot cast for a rival

Speaking on the red carpet, Fernandes said he had voted for one of his main challengers for the prize. “I won’t say who it was but I voted for some Arsenal player,” he admitted.

The United captain was quick to point out the north London side’s strong performances in both domestic and European competitions. “They were amazing; very strong, very difficult to play against,” Fernandes said. “A team that was very successful, not just in the Premier League but also in European competition.

“Getting into that Champions League final was something that was amazing from them, keeping themselves in the competition until so late, it’s something that they need to be proud of. And I think they deserve all the respect that all the Premier League has to give to them.”

The art of the assist

Looking back at his record total of 21 assists, Fernandes said he only really became conscious of the achievement when attention from the media started building around the numbers. He also praised his team-mates for finishing chances well, adding that his strikers at times appeared even more focused on the record than he was.

“I’m very proud that all the ones that have decided to help me,” he said about his team-mates. “I haven’t thought about the record much until you guys started commenting so much. Obviously, then when you start getting closer, you start thinking about it and everything. But I think it got into more into my strikers and into myself.

“The more so, you get to score the goal and to give me that feeling that sometimes they even forgot about their own game. But I’m very happy because assisting means that someone is getting goals, and mostly if I’m assisting, Manchester United is getting goals.

“But obviously, we don’t play tennis. We play football. We play in a team. We play for a club. We play for our fans. And there’s nothing more special than that.”

Bouncing back from an early setback

In spite of the personal honour, Fernandes and Manchester United have already run into trouble at the start of the new season. Carrick’s side suffered a disappointing 2-0 away defeat to newly promoted Hull on the opening weekend, which has immediately left them needing to make up ground in the league table.

United now have to respond as they get ready to host Ipswich on Sunday. Fernandes spoke candidly about where the club stands at present. “We’re three points behind where we wanted to be at this moment. We’ve got a game at home that we want to win, and this is the game. And try to get those points that we have ahead of us,” he concluded.