Bruno Fernandes has been awarded the 2025–26 Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year after a season in which his creativity and consistency were prominent features of Manchester United’s revival. His performances have been singled out by the football writers who vote on the prize.

The FWA honour is decided by members of the Football Writers’ Association and is presented annually to “the professional player who by precept and example is considered by a ballot of members to be the footballer of the year.” The prize sits among the season’s principal individual awards and carries considerable esteem among journalists.

Winners of the FWA award often go on to collect the other major individual prizes in the same season. Players who have completed that sequence in recent years include Erling Haaland (2022–23), Phil Foden (2023–24) and Mohamed Salah (2024–25).

Fernandes is the first Manchester United player to win the FWA vote since Wayne Rooney in 2009–10. It is the 10th occasion that someone from Old Trafford has taken the award, stretching back to the 1940s. Cristiano Ronaldo remains the only two-time winner, a distinction that leaves nine different Manchester United players having now claimed the prize.

That United lineage includes Johnny Carey (1948–49), Bobby Charlton (1965–66), George Best (1967–68), Eric Cantona (1995–96), Roy Keane (1999–00), Teddy Sheringham (2000–01), Cristiano Ronaldo (2006–07 and 2007–08) and Wayne Rooney (2009–10), with Bruno Fernandes added for 2025–26. Liverpool continue to hold the overall record for the most FWA awards, with 16 winners from across the decades.

The recognition cements Fernandes’s status among the leading figures in English football for the 2025–26 campaign and places him alongside the recent roll-call of the country’s standout performers.

April proved a turbulent month across the Premier League, with title hopes wobbling, a managerial dismissal at Chelsea and two clubs seeing relegation confirmed. There will be fresh winners in April after Mikel Arteta and Bruno Fernandes both failed to defend the gongs they won in March.

On the player side West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen tops the assist chart for April, teeing up four goals in three games. His first assist of the month set up the first of two goals Konstantinos Mavropanos has impressively mustered from center back, the same haul as Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.

Noah Okafor has contributed three goals in April to help Leeds move away from the division’s trap door. Morgan Gibbs-White scored three in one game for Nottingham Forest against Burnley, a performance that sparked a remarkable turnaround and eased relegation concerns at the City Ground. That display was part of Gibbs-White’s wider form: he is the Premier League’s joint-top scorer across the entirety of 2026. Brentford’s Igor Thiago is the only other player to hit double digits in this period.

Rayan Cherki brings a different sort of impact, combining flair with end product. “When I have the ball, I want people to say: ‘How did he do that? How did he see it?’” Cherki reflected earlier this season. Nico O’Reilly has also drawn gasps during April while the south coast duo Pascal Groß and Alex Scott receive belated recognition for their midfield contributions.

Manager nominations frame two contrasting battles. Pep Guardiola’s blunt criterion remains simple: “This is the easiest award,” the City boss once laughed. “Most points you do in a month is the Manager of the Month. So it’s simple.” Guardiola leads the raw points metric for April, collecting nine points out of nine while also advancing to the FA Cup final. Arne Slot’s Liverpool matched that perfect record, easing past Fulham and Crystal Palace either side of a dramatic Merseyside derby victory at Everton’s new home.

Brighton climbed from 10th to the top six across three matches; Fabian Hürzeler could find himself in the Champions League next season should that position hold and Aston Villa finish fifth. Andoni Iraola and Marco Rose are mentioned as managers who could steer their sides into Europe. At the other end Daniel Farke, Vítor Pereira and Nuno Espírito Santo remain focused on preserving Premier League safety, with Leeds and Forest appearing better placed while Nuno’s Hammers continue to scrap with Tottenham Hotspur.