Man Utd’s Fernandes trumps Arsenal to Premier League player of season award

Arsenal’s Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, and Man City’s Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, pipped to EPL award.Manchester ‌United captain Bruno Fernandes has been named the ⁠Premier League ⁠player of the season after guiding his club to third place in the ⁠standings while equalling the league’s assists record with a game to spare.Fernandes tied the league ⁠record of 20 assists, jointly held by former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and ex-Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, with one game of the season to spare.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Who are the star players missing out on the 2026 World Cup?list 2 of 4US says DRC team must isolate due to Ebola before arriving for World Cuplist 3 of 4Tuchel leaves Palmer and Foden out of England’s 2026 World Cup squadlist 4 of 4World Cup dark horses: Can Japan finally break last 16 barrier and go far?end of listThe Portugal international also scored eight goals as United ‌secured a third-place finish to qualify for the Champions League.The 31-year-old midfielder was nominated alongside Arsenal’s title-winning trio of Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, Man City’s Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and Brentford striker ⁠Igor Thiago.Fernandes emerged as the ⁠Premier League’s best playmaker this season when he created a league-high 132 chances. The next best player was Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, who ⁠created 89 chances.Fernandes was named the Football Writers’ Association men’s player of ⁠the year earlier this month, while he also picked up the club’s Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year honour for the fifth time.He has the opportunity ‌to make the Premier League assists record his own on Sunday when United travel to Brighton & Hove ‌Albion ‌for the final game of the season.The award for Fernandes marks a rare occasion that a player that was not part of a title winning side that season is recognised for their achievement. Kevin De Bruyne’s 2020 award, when Liverpool won the league, was the last example.