Man Utd captain wins award for first time after being voted standout player of Premier League campaign

Bruno Fernandes has been voted the EA SPORTS Player of the Season for the first time, after being in sensational form for Manchester United throughout the 2025/26 campaign.

Fernandes has been the driving force in a resurgent Red Devils side who have secured third place and a UEFA Champions League spot.

The Portuguese has directly contributed to 28 goals — scoring eight and assisting a joint-record 20 — in 37 Premier League appearances so far. 

“Thank you, guys, obviously this is an individual award but it comes because we had a very good season together,” Fernandes said to his team-mates after receiving the award.

“Without your help this was impossible. You guy can imagine that I’m very proud and very happy to get this [award], but my aim is that we can collect many things together.

“As I said, you all know, if you guys hadn’t scored that many goals I wouldn’t have this in my hands, so the credit [goes to] you guys.”

Fernandes targets history

His 20th assist, for Bryan Mbeumo’s goal in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, moved Fernandes level with ex-Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry for the most Premier League assists in one season.

“I’m very happy for the assist and for the win, and to finish the season on a high,” Fernandes said after his record-equalling feat.

“I got to 20, let’s see [if I can get to 21], we have one more game. It’s the highest I’ve done in the Premier League so I am very happy with it.”

Watch: All 20 of Fernandes’ assists this season

Fernandes could yet emerge as the Premier League’s all-time assist king should he set up a goal in Sunday’s final match of the 2025/26 campaign at home to Aston Villa.

The 31-year-old has written himself into the history books already, by surpassing David Beckham’s status as Man Utd’s top creator. Beckham previously held the club’s record for the most assists in a single Premier League season, setting up 15 goals in the 1999/2000 campaign.

Overall, Fernandes has created 132 chances this season, the most in the Premier League and an incredible 43 chances more than the next-best, Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai.

In March, Fernandes was voted EA SPORTS Player of the Month, equalling the number of times his former Man Utd team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo won the award (six).

He was recently named the men’s Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association — Fernandes is the first Man Utd player to win the FWA award since Wayne Rooney back in 2009/10.

Extended: Fernandes’ 2025/26 highlights

The coveted EA SPORTS Player of the Season award has been running since 1994/95 and Fernandes is the seventh player to receive it while representing Man Utd, following in the footsteps of Peter Schmeichel, Dwight Yorke, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney.

In total, nine Man Utd players have won the award, three more than the next nearest club Manchester City.

Fernandes has won the 2025/26 award after votes from supporters were combined with those of a panel of experts. He topped an eight-man shortlist that also included Arsenal’s Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, Man City duo Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, plus Brentford striker Igor Thiago, and Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. 

Real Madrid ended a troubled La Liga campaign with a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao in Alvaro Arbeloa’s last game at the helm, while Mallorca and Girona were relegated from the Spanish top flight on Saturday.

In the final round of fixtures in LaLiga, Mallorca defeated already-relegated Real Oviedo 3-0 to reach 42 points, but it was not enough to survive.

Girona were held to a 1-1 draw by Elche, which kept the visitors up and sent the Catalan side down, just one season after they played in the UEFA Champions League.

Veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored for champions Barcelona in his final match for the club, but goals from Javi Guerra, Luis Rioja and Guido Rodriguez snatched a 3-1 victory for Valencia.

Celta de Vigo wrapped up UEFA Europa League qualification with a 1-0 win over Sevilla to come sixth, while Getafe secured seventh and a UEFA Conference League berth with a 1-0 win over Osasuna.

Dani Carvajal, playing his last game for Real Madrid, produced a sensational ball for Gonzalo García to fire the second-place hosts ahead against Athletic Bilbao.

England international Jude Bellingham scored a superb second, before Gorka Guruzeta slammed past Thibaut Courtois for Athletic Bilbao just before the break in the coach’s last game at the helm.

La Liga’s top goalscorer Kylian Mbappé swept home from outside the area for Madrid’s third, his 25th goal of the season in the top flight.

When Carvajal was taken off with 10 minutes to go, both teams gave the 34-year-old a guard of honour as he bid an emotional goodbye to the Santiago Bernabéu.

Morocco international Brahim Díaz tucked home a fourth late on as Madrid were at least able to sign off from a disappointing trophyless campaign on a high note, despite Urko Izeta pulling another back for Athletic.

Levante UD survived in 16th and Osasuna in 17th despite defeats and finishing on 42 points, the same tally as relegated Mallorca in 18th, because of head-to-head results between the three sides.

On Sunday, in the final match of the season, Villarreal and Atlético Madrid battle for third place.

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A dramatic stoppage-time goal from Oliver McBurnie secured Hull City’s return to the Premier League after a tense play-off final victory over Middlesbrough.

Hull City secured promotion to the Premier League dramatically with a 95th-minute winner against Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final.

Oliver McBurnie proved the decisive figure, converting in stoppage time to seal a memorable victory for the Tigers. The match appeared destined for extra time after a tightly contested affair with few clear-cut chances.

Hull City, who only just claimed the final play-off spot by finishing sixth, showed resilience throughout the contest. Their route to the final included a home draw against Millwall before a convincing 2-0 victory in the second leg.

Against Middlesbrough, they maintained their discipline and composure despite sustained pressure. McBurnie’s late intervention sparked jubilant celebrations among players and supporters alike.

Hull City now return to the Premier League alongside Coventry City and Ipswich Town after a remarkable end to their campaign.

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