Bruno Fernandes follows in De Gea and Ronaldo's footsteps as Man Utd announce decision

Manchester United have announced that Bruno Fernandes is the club's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for a second successive season and a joint-record fourth time. The Red Devils captain joins club icons David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to receive the award four times after "clearly" winning the fan vote.

On Friday morning, United revealed that Amad finished as the runner-up, and Harry Maguire was the third most-voted name, emphasising his impressive renaissance this season. Fernandes has operated on a level above his team-mates throughout the campaign, plundering 19 goals and 19 assists in 54 appearances.

Despite United's record-low struggles, he has charted his second-best season since his 2020 arrival and will look to top it off with silverware in the Europa League final.

Fernandes is knocking on the door of club icon territory, given the unmatched numbers he has produced across the past five years.

Yet, many will argue United's lack of major silverware during his time at Old Trafford could hamper his credentials.

Fernandes has lifted the League Cup and FA Cup in the last two seasons after tasting a bitter defeat in the 2021 Europa League final against Villarreal.

The Portugal international is vying to right those wrongs and beat Spurs in Bilbao to add to his medal haul and secure Champions League football next season.

Fernandes also won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award in 2020, 2021 and 2024, equalling De Gea and Ronaldo's impressive recognition.

De Gea won the award four times in five years between 2014 and 2018 during the sensational prime of his career.

Ronaldo received the honour in 2022 after making his incredible United return from Juventus, having also done so in 2004, 2007 and 2008.

The world-class trio join an elite roster of players who have been named the club's Player of the Year more than once.

Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Brian McClair, Wayne Rooney, and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the other multiple-time recipients since the award's 1988 inception.

Despite Fernandes' success, he spoke like a true captain armband on Thursday when he shared that he had told Joshua Zirkzee that he hoped he wasn't in the conversation next year.

He told CBS: "I hope next year I am not even involved in the name – and do the same season as I did this year, and not be involved in the name of winning that trophy.

"Because that will mean you step up, Amad will step up, Garnacho will step up, Rasmus will step up...

"If they start scoring goals, start doing assists, start running backwards and tackling, they will be the ones having attention and not me, and I will be the most happy person in the world.

"I'm there to help my team-mates, get the best out of them, and that's all I want to do because I know as soon as I can get the best out of them, my team will be much better."