Bruno Fernandes wins writers’ award, closes in on Premier League assist record
Bruno Fernandes won the writers’ award and moved within one assist of the Premier League record, even as Manchester United’s season fell short of the game’s top prizes.
Bruno Fernandes collected another individual prize while Manchester United remained short of the trophies that matter most. The 31-year-old midfielder won the Football Writers’ Association men’s Footballer of the Year award for the 2025-26 season, became the first United player to claim it since Wayne Rooney in 2010, and stood one assist away from matching the Premier League’s single-season record.
Fernandes reportedly received 45 percent of the vote and beat Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice by 28 votes, with Erling Haaland finishing third. The award underlined how heavily Manchester United leaned on Fernandes across a difficult campaign, one in which he produced eight Premier League goals and a league-best 19 assists, along with 20 assists in all competitions.
The assist chase has already rewritten part of Manchester United’s record book. Fernandes reached 16 league assists after the 3-1 win over Aston Villa on 15 March 2026, overtaking David Beckham for the club’s most prolific single-season provider in the Premier League. The league mark itself stands at 20, jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, leaving Fernandes needing one more to equal it and two more to move clear of it.
His output has continued to strengthen a United career already defined by volume and responsibility. Manchester United have said Fernandes has won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award four times and has led the side out in major finals. He also reached his 100th goal for the club in all competitions on 20 September 2025 against Chelsea, in his 200th Premier League appearance, and has moved within sight of becoming only the fourth overseas player to score 100 times for United.
The broader question remains whether Fernandes is building a legacy because of Manchester United’s instability rather than through it. United signed him to a new contract on 14 August 2024, keeping him at the club until 30 June 2027 with an option for a further year. Yet his future has still drawn attention after he rejected a Saudi Pro League move in 2025, then made clear that his ambitions would be tied to the club’s direction and its prospects of returning to the Champions League. For now, the numbers keep climbing even as the institutional doubts around Old Trafford do not.
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