The Portuguese playmaker is among the contenders for the prestigious personal prize, but collective honours proved elusive in 2020-21
Bruno Fernandes is among the contenders for the 2020-21 PFA Player of the Year award, but the Manchester United midfielder admits he would happily swap individual recognition for collective honours.
The Red Devils have ended another campaign empty-handed, with a barren run on the trophy front at Old Trafford stretching beyond the four-year mark.
Portuguese playmaker Fernandes did all he could to change that, with 28 goals and 18 assists recorded in 58 appearances in all competitions, but runner-up finishes in the Premier League and Europa League are all he has to show for those efforts.
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What has been said?
On being nominated alongside Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester City quartet Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan for the PFA prize, Fernandes told United’s official website: “If we win trophies, it is the most important thing.
“Of course, it’s good for a player to win individual awards and I will never say I don’t want to be the best player in the league or I don’t want to be the PFA Player of the Season. I want to be [that] but I want to be [that] if the team wins trophies. If the team does win trophies, for me, it’s the same.
“For me, the most important thing is to help my team-mates to also be player of the season. That’s the most important thing because, if someone from the club is player of the season, it means that we do very, very well this season.
“I think we will always be happy if someone else takes an individual award because it means the team is doing well. Nobody in football, a team sport, wins an individual trophy just doing well himself. You have to do well but you have to have the help of your team-mates to do well.
“When you have an individual trophy, of course, you are doing really well and deserve the credit but that credit goes to the team because they help you do better and better.”
Fernandes’ record at United
Fernandes now has 40 goals and 25 assists for United to his name, in just 80 matches.
He has made no secret of a desire to start adding major silverware to the personal praise that has rained down on him, with the Red Devils in the process of piecing together plans for 2021-22 – with plenty of movement expected in the summer recruitment market.
Further reading
- Ronaldo used Man Utd ‘as an apprenticeship’
- Van de Beek told he ‘doesn’t fit Man Utd’
- Telles makes Man Utd future vow
