Bruno Fernandes hails ‘perfect’ Arsenal star he wants at Man Utd – ‘I always thought’ | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes has revealed he was “really sad” when Declan Rice moved to Arsenal over Manchester United.

Rice is in the running to win the Ballon d’Or this year as his outstanding displays for the Gunners put them on the brink of an historic Premier League, Champions League double.

The England international was strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford through much of his time at West Ham, specifically in 2021 as the Red Devils prepared for the possible exit of Paul Pogba.

Rice completed his £100m move to Arenal from the Hammers two years later and United captain Fernandes has voiced his frustration at being denied the chance to play alongside him.

During an interview with The Football Writers’ Association, Fernandes said: “I’ve always said, Rice was a player to play for Man United, I was really sad when he chose to go Arsenal.

“I always thought he would be a perfect fit for our club.”

Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently explained that discussions were held over a possible move for Rice in his time at Old Trafford.

On the Stick to Football podcast, the Norwegian said: Yeah, [there was interest] I really, really like him as a player.

“We discussed him a few times and I think we would have done well with him in midfield. I think his legs, covering the pitch. I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well.”

‘Very happy and very honoured’

Fernandes was conducting the interview after being named the the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and said he was “very grateful” to the FWA members.

Fernandes said: “Obviously it’s always nice to see a lot of people have voted for you and I know this is a massive award in the UK and for me it’s very special to do it.

“I know that the club have not had a winner since 2010 with Wayne Rooney and that makes it even more special for me.

“It also comes from people who follow football from all around the UK, people who work in the background behind the players and it makes it very special.

“Of course, you like to see good things out there about you – you don’t like it as much when it’s not so good – but it’s part of the job.

“Obviously when these moments come, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be here on behalf of the people who voted for me and also the ones who didn’t vote for me and who made other choices.

“Obviously everyone has different opinion, different tastes, but I’m very happy and very honoured to receive this award.

“It means a lot, I’ve always said that I’d rather it was a collective award rather than individual ones but, as a player, you would rather this type of occasion to also show you are doing things right.

“But also I want to achieve everything that those (other United) players achieved in terms of winning with the club. But being in their company with this award is massively important for me and I won’t hide from that.

“We know, as I’ve said before, it’s a collective job what we do but when individually you get recognised for what you’ve done during the season it feels very special.”