Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed that he voted for an Arsenal player to win the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year award before eventually receiving the honour himself.
Fernandes made the revelation after being named the 2025/26 PFA Players’ Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in Manchester. The award, which is voted for by fellow professional footballers, recognised his outstanding campaign.
Asked who he voted for, Fernandes said he selected an Arsenal player but declined to reveal the identity.
“I vote for some Arsenal player. I won’t say who it was, but I voted for some Arsenal player,” he said.
The Manchester United midfielder enjoyed a record-breaking season, providing 21 Premier League assists to surpass the previous record of 20 jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. He also scored nine goals as United finished third and secured Champions League football.
Fernandes said receiving recognition from players he competes against made the award particularly meaningful.
He also praised Arsenal, whose players made up half of the six-man shortlist. Declan Rice, David Raya and Gabriel Magalhães joined Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki on the shortlist.
“They were amazing. They were very, very strong, very difficult to play against,” Fernandes said, praising Arsenal’s Premier League and European performances.
The United captain added that he expected his assist record to eventually be broken, suggesting one of the league’s top players could surpass the mark in the future.
