Manchester United captain says he would gladly give up personal accolades if younger teammates step up
Bruno Fernandes has made it clear he hopes to be completely out of contention for a particular award next season – Manchester United’s Player of the Season award.
On Friday, the club captain was named the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, marking the fourth time he has won the award since he joined in 2020. After two consecutive wins in 2020 and 2021, the honour was then grabbed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Fernandes has now won the award again this year and last.
Speaking to CBS, however, the Portuguese said: “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.”
The reason? The United skipper wants to see the club’s rising stars – the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo – start taking centre stage.
“That will mean you step up, Amad will step up, Garnacho will step up, Rasmus will step up,” Fernandes confirmed telling Zirkzee.
“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,” said the 30-year-old.
Fernandes has consistently been among United’s top performers since arriving in 2020 and has carried much of the creative burden this season. But as the team looks to rebuild under Ruben Amorim, the Portugal international wants to be the low-key creator while the team’s attacking talent take the spotlight.
“I’m there to help my team-mates, get the best out of them, and that’s all I want to do,” added Fernandes. “Because I know as soon as I can get the best out of them, my team will be much better.”
