Declan Rice came second to Bruno Fernandes in this year Football Writer’s Association Player of the Year award in vote leaving many question marks
Upon learning the news that Bruno Fernandes was set to win the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award, the person sat opposite me in the press room ahead of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal press conference should be thankful that the sip of tea that I had just taken didn’t find itself sprayed all over them.
34 games. 34 matches of football. That is how much involvement Bruno Fernandes has enjoyed this season. No doubt about it, he has had an incredible campaign full of goals (8) and assists (21), but he and Manchester United will be largely forgotten for their contributions to the 2025/26 season.
The runner-up is Declan Rice. Utterly fantastic for Arsenal, the engine room of the midfield, the catalyst of the hatred directed The Gunners’ way regarding their lethality from set-pieces. Also a four-time goalscorer – just four fewer than the Portuguese international operating in a much more offensive sphere of the pitch – as well as the de facto leader of a side whose two captains Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have been absent for large portions of the campaign.
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He has currently played 18 more matches, 1223 more minutes, much helped by the fact his Arsenal side didn’t exit the cup competitions at the first time of asking like United did, losing against Brighton and Grimsby Town in the FA Cup and League Cup respectively. Fernandes was culpable in their performances in those matches.
The England midfielder’s contributions in the UEFA Champions League earned him Man of the Match trophies against Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and in the semi-final home win against Atletico Madrid that delivered Arsenal to their first final in the competition in 20 years.
Rice might yet end the season with a Premier League and Champions League winner’s medal. Fernandes might indeed pick up a couple of individual accolades for his performances, but in terms of his impact on the sport this year, he cannot hold a candle to Rice, who hopes to potentially add a World Cup medal to his cabinet of awards this summer as a leader in Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
When you look back at previous FWA winners beginning with Mohamed Salah in 2025, Phil Foden in 2024, and Erling Haaland in 2023, what they all have in common is their involvement in the side that would win the league that season. They were the best players in the best team.
Declan Rice is set to be that player, and yet will not be recognised for being the best player of the best team in the league this season. Why? That to me is a complete mystery, but at least I’ll be able to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow knowing the player who should have rightly won, had my support.
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