Bruno Fernandes has revealed that he voted for an Arsenal star to win the PFA Men's Player of the Year award, which he ultimately claimed for himself. The Manchester United captain was honoured for his outstanding 2025-26 season, during which he broke the Premier League assist record with 21.
Fernandes' vote and praise for Arsenal
As nominees are not allowed to vote for themselves, Fernandes had to back a rival. The 31-year-old said: "I won't say who it was but I voted for some Arsenal player."
"They were amazing; very strong, very difficult to play against. 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."
Winning the award and reflecting on the season
Despite his vote, Fernandes went on to win the top prize. "It was a special season, individually for me," the midfielder commented. "And obviously, I'm very proud that all the ones that have decided to help me. I haven't thought about the (assists) 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 for just ourselves. 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."
United's start to the season
Fernandes also commented on United's disappointing 2-0 defeat away to newly promoted Hull on Saturday, as Michael Carrick's side started the season on a down note. "We're three points behind where we wanted to be at this moment," he acknowledged. "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." United host Ipswich on Sunday.
