'He fully deserves it' - Bruno Fernandes given Man Utd backing after winning Player of the Year

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Michael Carrick has lavished praise on Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes after he won the Football Writers' Association player of the season ahead of Arsenal's Declan Rice and Erling Haaland of Manchester City . The Portuguese is chasing a record-breaking season for assists as he looks to move level with the Premier League record, jointly held by Gunners icon Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.

Fernandes becomes the first Red Devils player since Wayne Rooney to win the award, voted for by football reporters up and down the country, when the England legend claimed the accolade in 2009/10. The Portugal international becomes the 10th United player to win the award.

The 31-year-old needs just one assist from their three remaining matches to match the feat achieved by Henry and De Bruyne.

The interim Manchester United manager heaped support on the Red Devils star man. He said: "It's fantastic, delighted for Bruno. I think he fully deserves it, an award like this, judged over such a long period of time, whoever gets it is fully deserving.

"I think Bruno, the season that he has had, his performances since I've been here, the impact he has had on the group has been fantastic. So yeah, fully deserving and I'm delighted he's got an award like that.

"I think it gets to a stage of your career where you learn and evolve, 29, 30, 31, 32 you're in a really good place, you've gained experience physically, you're in your peak. He's shown that, he's in his best years and the level of performances has been, as the award shows, better than most."

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United's 3-2 win over Liverpool last weekend secured their place in the Champions League . The win completed a domestic double over their fierce rivals.

Fernandes contributed massively to the Red Devils' qualification, while Carrick's arrival on an initial interim basis has been the catalyst for their return to Europe's top table.

Speaking to Rooney, the last United player to win the Football Writers' award, Fernandes revealed that he had unfinished business at United, following reports on uncertainty surrounding his future.

He said: "I stayed because I thought I still had something that I can give back to the club.

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"Obviously the Saudi situation, with the money... there was a lot. The good thing I have in my family is that my wife is pretty down to earth like me.

"We're very aware that we don't want to be the richest person in the world . We just want to be the ones that have achieved the dreams they had and live a good life with their kids and trying to be as successful as possible.

"The words of my wife were like, 'have you achieved your dreams? Have you achieved everything you wanted?'

"And that small thing she said made me understand that she's on the same page as me. Let's keep trying and see where this takes me.

"I didn't want to leave the club at the point where we were struggling."