Bruno Fernandes could have been in a very different place by now. In one version of this season, he left Manchester United in the summer. Instead, he stayed, said in December that the club wanted him to leave, and has put himself right back into the Premier League player of the year conversation.
Fernandes has 19 assists this season and has created 124 chances for teammates, 56 more than Dominik Szoboszlai. That production matters because he did not deliver it all from the same role. Before Ruben Amorim was sacked, Fernandes was pushed into a deep-lying midfield position and still managed five goals and eight assists while playing out of place. Under Michael Carrick, he returned to his preferred No 10 role, and the shift has changed both his numbers and United’s results.
Since going back to No 10, Fernandes has added 11 assists and three goals. Manchester United, though, have still had only three draws and two defeats in 15 games in that spell. The team’s season has been turbulent, and his output has come amid tactical changes rather than in spite of them. That is part of why his case for the award feels so strong: he has been the one constant in a side that kept moving around him.
The broader award race is crowded. Declan Rice has been described by Mikel Arteta as a lighthouse, and the Arsenal midfielder has created 63 chances while leading the team for ball recoveries. Arsenal are also two wins away from their first league title since 2004, and they have conceded only 26 goals in 36 games this season. That combination of control and resilience gives Rice a profile that voters will not ignore.
Erling Haaland is there too. He scored 13 goals in his first 10 league games this season, reached 100 Premier League goals in December in 111 games and already won the award in 2022-23. His benchmark is obvious. Fernandes’ case is different, built less on explosive scoring bursts than on repeated influence across a chaotic campaign. That is what makes the debate interesting now, with the season closing and the final judgment beginning to harden.
