Bruno Fernandes received the Premier League Player of the Season award for 2025-26 after helping Manchester United secure third place and Champions League qualification [1, 2, 3]. Earlier this month, Fernandes was also named Football Writers' Association men's Player of the Year, adding to his collection of individual honours [1, 2, 3].
Fernandes equalled the previous Premier League single-season assists record of 20, set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, before the final game of the season [1, 2, 3]. On May 24, he broke the record by delivering his 21st assist in a 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion [4, 5, 6, 7]. The record-breaking assist came in the 32nd minute when Fernandes swung in a corner that was headed home by Patrick Dorgu [4, 5, 6]. Fernandes said, "Today I was lucky enough to get that. Jonny (Evans) believed more than me in that set-piece we prepared for Patrick because I was not so sure he would be able to score with his head. I got my assist but the main thing is we won today and finished very strong" [4].
Over the season, Fernandes scored 9 Premier League goals and combined for 30 goal involvements—goals plus assists—the highest total in Manchester United’s squad [4, 5, 6]. He created 132 chances, the most in the league, well above Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai who created 89 [1, 2, 3]. Speaking about joining Henry and de Bruyne, Fernandes called it "already special being in their company. We are talking about two players that made the Premier League so great, and they were two of the greatest in the Premier League" [4].
Following Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest the week before the Brighton game, Fernandes reached 20 assists [2, 8, 9, 10]. After that, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane criticized Fernandes on The Overlap podcast. Keane said, "How can your mindset of a footballer be going into a match to be about an individual record? He won’t be winning trophies, not with that mindset of the team" and described Fernandes as part of a "circus act" [8, 9, 10]. Fernandes responded on The Diary of a CEO podcast, calling Keane’s remarks lies and affirming his commitment to team success. He said, "Like I’ve always said, I don’t mind criticism. What I don’t like is when people lie about things and (in) this case Roy Keane basically what he said is a lie" [8, 9, 10]. Fernandes also reached out to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to get Keane’s phone number to discuss their disagreement [9, 10].
Manchester United finished the season in third place, securing Champions League qualification for the 2026-27 campaign [1, 2, 4, 5, 6]. Fernandes has also won the club’s Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award for the fifth time, underscoring his status at the club [1, 3].
