Bruno Fernandes says he is honoured to be voted Footballer of the Year – and thanks ‘amazing’ Carrick | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes says it is “very special” to be voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year.

Fernandes polled nearly 45 per cent of the vote thanks to his standout season which has seen him register 19 assists and get Manchester United back into the Champions League.

Portugal midfielder Fernandes says he was “very grateful” to the FWA members who voted and was also delighted to join a list of United greats to have received the award.

Fernandes is the first United player to win the gong since Wayne Rooney in 2010 and joins the likes of George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Teddy Sheringham in receiving the honour.

United captain 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.”

Fernandes was such a popular choice because of what he has done on the pitch and the way he has guided United’s revival under Michael Carrick.

He is just one short of equalling the assist record jointly held by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry who both registered 20 assists in a single season in their careers.

But Fernandes would also love to win trophies for United and for the fanbase, because he has such a special connection with the club’s supporters.

He said: “I’ve said before it’s a very special record because it’s owned by Thierry and Kevin. They were standout players in the Premier League for many, many years and it would be great to do it.

“But I don’t want to focus on that so much because we want to achieve our targets and what was possible for us and one of those was to get back in the Champions League places. We wanted to get back into the European places and to be back in the Champions League is even better.

“Part of my game is creating chances, getting the ball to my teammates and helping them score goals so if I have the chance to score my own ones then I will be happy to take them.

“That record will be an amazing achievement but not something I want to really focus on.”

Fernandes also said on Carrick and the desire to win trophies. “I said many times that I’ve worked under Michael before as an assistant manager, I had the opportunity to be with him for three games and I always said that Michael has a great character to become a top manager and the qualities everyone could see he had as a player.

“When as a player you can think and see the game as a player as he was doing, you can also do it from the bench. It’s a different thing but when you have that calmness from the bench and that experience you know there could be a potential manager and he’s showing that.

“He did very well at Middlesbrough. It didn’t work out for him this season – maybe luckily! Because then he was available for the club and then he had the chance to come back and he has done an amazing job for the end of the season.

“It’s going to be on the club to make a decision as to whether they keep faith with him or to go on another way.

“Obviously going into next season, we all know that the aim of this club always has to be winning. I think in the first place when a player chooses to come to Man United it’s not because you just want to wear the shirt.

“That’s a big feeling and it’s a big thing to walk out at Old Trafford and that was the dream I had but I had that dream because I knew the club could win things and be close to winning the Premier League and Champions League. That’s why I came to this club.”

Fernandes will receive the FWA Footballer of the Year award at the annual dinner next Tuesday at the Landmark Hotel in London.