Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Men’s Footballer of the Year for the 2025/26 season, the English football media’s most prestigious individual honour. The 31-year-old Portuguese international edged out Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice by just 28 votes, securing 45 per cent of the ballot from the FWA’s 900-plus members. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland finished third.
No other United player received a single vote, while Arsenal’s support was split among Rice, David Raya, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhães. It marks the first time a Red Devils player has claimed the award since Wayne Rooney in 2009/10 and makes Fernandes the ninth or tenth United winner in the award’s history (depending on exact counting), placing the club second behind Liverpool on the all-time list.
The FWA, founded in 1947, has presented the Footballer of the Year award since 1948 (first won by Sir Stanley Matthews) to the player judged the standout performer “by precept and example.” This season’s vote was one of the tightest in recent memory, yet Fernandes’ numbers and influence proved decisive.
A season of records and revivalFernandes has delivered the campaign of his career. With three Premier League games remaining, he sits on 19 league assists — one short of the all-time single-season record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne — and has scored eight Premier League goals. Across all competitions he has 20 assists in 34 appearances.
His creativity has been extraordinary: he has created 120 chances this season, the highest total of his career and almost double the next-best player. He leads the league in open-play chances created, chipped passes and through-balls (attempting 50 per cent more than anyone else). Since mid-January he has been involved in more goals than any other player in the division.
That output has been the heartbeat of Manchester United’s dramatic turnaround. After the January dismissal of head coach Ruben Amorim, the team looked in danger of missing out on Europe. Under caretaker Michael Carrick they have surged back, climbing the table more than any other side and securing Champions League qualification for next season. Fernandes, restored to a more attacking role, has been the catalyst
FWA chairman John Cross, chief football writer at the Daily Mirror, said: “Both players [Fernandes and Rice] have been so influential in their team’s performances this season. They are also such great examples and role models in the game. Bruno is on course to break records and has thrilled us with his skill.”
United interim boss Michael Carrick highlighted the platform given to his captain: “I think giving Bruno the platform to go and perform… to try to bring out the best of everyone within that.” Teammate Matheus Cunha was more effusive: “He helps everyone. I think he is a beautiful captain for the club… What a player, what a guy. He deserves the Player of the Year.”
Historic companyFernandes joins an illustrious list of United greats — Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney among them — to win the FWA award. At 31 he becomes one of the older winners in recent times, proof that experience, leadership and relentless creativity can still define a season.
The award will be formally presented at the FWA’s annual Footballer of the Year dinner in London on 19 May. In the same ceremony, Manchester City’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw was named Women’s Footballer of the Year after a landslide victory, her second such honor. For Bruno Fernandes, a player once criticised for supposed “Hollywood” moments, this is validation on the grandest stage. The votes have been counted, the record books updated, and English football’s writers have spoken: this season, the midfielder from Portugal was the best of them all.
