Declan Rice Would Be Perfect for Manchester United, Believes Bruno

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has expressed his admiration for Declan Rice's quality and his regret that the Arsenal midfielder didn't join the Old Trafford club. The Portuguese international made these comments after narrowly beating the Englishman in the Football Writers' Association (FWA) Player of the Season vote. The two were the primary contenders for the individual award, with Fernandes ultimately securing 45% of the votes.

“First and foremost, I admire him greatly as a person, because I know him from Algarve, when we trained together,” Fernandes stated in an interview with Joel Beya. “I already knew him as a West Ham player and we knew the qualities he possessed. I’ve always said that Rice is a player who should play for Manchester United, and I was truly sad when he chose to go to Arsenal. I didn’t know if there was an opportunity or a chance for him to come to Manchester United, but I always thought he would be perfect for our club. Not just because of the player he is, but also because of the person and the professional. He showed me that. And because of his character.”

While Rice is chasing major trophies with his team, Fernandes is on the verge of making individual history. He has 19 Premier League assists this season, leaving him just one shy of the record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. Fernandes has upcoming matches against Nottingham Forest and Burnley in which he will attempt to surpass this achievement. It was his assist tally that earned him the FWA award, despite eight of the last ten recipients of the prize playing for the team that won the Premier League title in the respective year.

Fernandes insisted that Rice would also have been a worthy winner but suggested that his deeper midfield position makes it harder for his performances to stand out in the same way.

“What he’s doing this season is great,” Fernandes said. “His position is different; he’s a player who isn’t required to make as many assists or score as many goals. Different things are required of him.” “The way Arsenal plays is different from ours, so we can’t compare the players. But what we can say is that he is one of the most outstanding players in the Premier League this season.”

The Portuguese added: “I’m very happy to have won, but if Declan had taken this award, it would have been fully deserved. In a season where you have to choose between players, it’s obvious that numbers carry a lot of weight in decisions.”

“I had a brilliant season and was able to add that to my game. Obviously, it’s harder for Dec to achieve that because he plays a bit further back. Nevertheless, I think he’s an incredible player. If he had received this award, I would have messaged him and congratulated him, just as I did when he reached the Champions League final.”