Forget the Ballon d'Or — but there is one accolade Bruno Fernandes truly deserves this season. The Manchester United captain will not be in the running for the prestigious individual prize unless Portugal wins the World Cup, but he is in with a great shout of lifting domestic end-of-season awards.
Fernandes' Impact at Manchester United
When Paul Pogba says Bruno Fernandes would be a Ballon d'Or contender if he played for Manchester City, there is a strong element of stating the obvious. City have won a trophy and will probably win one more before the end of the season. City is a truly elite club still operating not far from the peak of its power. If Fernandes played for Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich, he would be a Ballon d'Or contender, but he plays for Manchester United, who have never looked like winning anything this season.
They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Grimsby Town and out of the FA Cup by Brighton and Hove Albion. Fernandes is phenomenally important to United but might not be as important to a better team. Bayern Munich, PSG, City — a little bit of conjecture is needed to imagine how he would perform in those teams.
World Cup Hopes and Ballon d'Or Prospects
If Fernandes helps Portugal win the World Cup, then he will be a Ballon d'Or contender, despite playing for a club that will have taken part in only 40 matches this season. But in relative terms, Portugal are unlikely to win the World Cup. The Ballon d'Or is a long shot for Fernandes, but individual accolades in this country are more than possibilities.
He has to be a serious contender for the Footballer of the Year, as voted for by the Football Writers Association, and the Player of the Year, as voted for by members of the Professional Footballers Association.
Domestic Awards: The Case for Fernandes
Understandably, a lot of voters like to go for someone who has contributed significantly to a side that has had a successful season. City could win a treble, Arsenal a prestige double. But who would be the choice from City? Rayan Cherki's brilliance has come to the fore only lately, and we are now taking Erling Haaland's prolific excellence for granted. Bernardo Silva is routinely overlooked.
Contenders from Arsenal? Declan Rice had a great first half of the season but, by his rarefied standards, has been unremarkable for some time, and individual awards tend not to go to defenders or goalkeepers. David Raya should have a shout, but the last keeper to be voted Footballer of the Year was Neville Southall in 1984-85. In 2020-21, Ruben Dias was the first defender to win the award since Steve Nicol got the accolade in 1988-89.
Peter Shilton (1977-78) is the only keeper to win the PFA award, while Virgil van Dijk (2018-19) is the only defender to win it in the past 20 years. Arsenal's strength is their defence, and that generally does not get recognised in individual polls.
So, the Footballer of the Year/Player of the Year could come from outside the top two, and there would be no more deserving candidate than Fernandes. He is a United player who has not just sharpened up his act for a manager he wants to get the long-term gig. He was excellent for Ruben Amorim — in a slightly different role — and he is excellent for Michael Carrick. His statistics are impressive.
Record-Breaking Assists
He is two short of the record number of assists, 20, in a Premier League season. And when the season ends, you can be sure the proportion of goals he has assisted will be a Premier League record. He has registered an assist for over 31 percent of United's Premier League goals this season. Kevin de Bruyne's total of 20 in the 2019/20 season meant he registered an assist for 19.6 percent of City's goals in that Premier League campaign.
But the statistics tell only a fraction of the story. Fernandes has not only been brilliant on the pitch but an excellent ambassador off it. Late-season pyrotechnics from Haaland and a City title win might get the Norwegian striker over the line. But, if not, Fernandes would be a very worthy Footballer of the Year.
