Bruno Fernandes has already won the Premier League Player of the Season and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. Now he wants the PFA Players' Player of the Year too — which would make three major individual awards in a single campaign. The only thing standing in his way is Declan Rice and a title-winning Arsenal side.
The six nominees are confirmed: Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes, and David Raya from Arsenal; Fernandes from Manchester United; and Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki from Manchester City. On paper it looks open. In reality, this is almost certainly a two-horse race.
The case for Fernandes is hard to dismiss
Fernandes shattered the Premier League assist record this season, teeing up 21 goals to surpass the previous marks set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. That's not a volume stat padded by easy chances — that's a complete creative season sustained across nine months. He dragged Manchester United to third place and back into the Champions League, doing so without a reliable strike partner for long stretches of the campaign. The two awards he's already collected reflect a genuine consensus across both journalists and Premier League players that he was the individual of the season.
And yet, the PFA award is voted for by players. Their perspective skews toward impact within a winning context.
Rice is the frontrunner, but not by as much as Arsenal fans think
Rice contributed 11 goal involvements in a dual role — advanced early, deeper as the season progressed — and was central to Arsenal grinding out the kind of wins that deliver titles. The Gunners' first league championship in over 20 years carries enormous weight, and in a peer vote, being part of history matters. His odds to win this will be short, and probably correctly so.
Gabriel and Raya were both excellent, but individual awards rarely go to defenders in seasons where an outfield player has broken a 20-year-old record. Haaland's 38 goals across all competitions and Cherki's 25 contributions from a debut Premier League season are genuinely strong cases — but City won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup while Arsenal took the title, and the voting tends to reward the bigger stage.
- Bruno Fernandes — 21 assists (Premier League record), United finished 3rd, two individual awards already claimed
- Declan Rice — 11 goal contributions, key to Arsenal's title, versatile role across the season
- Erling Haaland — 38 goals across all competitions, targeting a second PFA win
- Rayan Cherki — 25 goal contributions in debut Premier League season, signed for £30m from Lyon
- Gabriel Magalhaes — defensive cornerstone of Arsenal's title-winning backline
- David Raya — consistent between the sticks throughout Arsenal's campaign
The honest answer is that Fernandes deserved every individual award going this season. But Rice lifted a league title, and the players who vote for this one know what that means. The three awards would be historic. The one Rice already has might just be enough to tip the balance.
