Man United’s Fernandes sets EPL Player of the Month record, targets trophies

MANCHESTER United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has been named Premier League Player of the Month for December.

It is the fourth time the Portuguese star would win the award in 2020, earning him a place in the record books.

Fernandes has become the first player in Premier League history to win the award four times in a calendar year, following his wins in February, June and November 2020.

“Three goals and four assists was a complete month,” Fernandes told the Premier League website after receiving the award.

“Scoring and assisting your team-mates is perfect. I want to achieve other trophies and awards but I’m really happy to make history.”

United were unbeaten in the Premier League in December with wins over West Ham, Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers as well as a draw at Leicester City.

Fernandes played a pivotal role in all the results, getting an assist against West Ham, scoring twice and assisting another goal in the 6-2 win over Leeds United, and contributing to all the goals in the 2-2 draw with Leicester City and the 1-0 win over Wolves.

He beat Anwar El Ghazi, Emiliano Martinez, Ben Mee, Marcus Rashford, Mohamed Salah, Tomas Soucek and John Stones to the December award.

According to Opta statistics, Fernandes has won the Premier League Player of the Month as many as times as Cristiano Ronaldo. Only Sergio Agüero (7), Steven Gerrard (6), Harry Kane (6), Robin van Persie (5) and Wayne Rooney (5) have won it more.

Although Fernandes has inspired United to the top of the table, he is not getting carried away as his side visit second-place Liverpool on Sunday.

“It’s a long way before we can start talking about being champions,” he noted.

“We have to keep working. We play against one of the best teams in England and we know what it means to the fans. But the main point is the same: three points.”