Bruno Fernandes has been named the English Premier League Player of the Month for March following a stellar month for Manchester United.
Portuguese midfielder Fernandes was involved in all four goals as Manchester United enjoyed an unbeaten March.
He started the month with a sensational free-kick goal as the Red Devils held second-placed Arsenal to a 1-1 draw. He followed up with two assists – taking him to 50 Premier League assists in total – and another goal in a 3-0 victory at Leicester City.
It is the fifth occasion Fernandes has won the EA SPORTS Player of the Month accolade but the first time in five years, having claimed all four of his previous awards in 2020, when he was honoured in February, June, November and December.
Fernandes has also won three Guinness Goal of the Month awards, meaning that he has now won eight monthly accolades since joining Manchester United in January 2020 from Sporting Lisbon.
Fernandes’ latest success moves him joint-third in the all-time Premier League list of winners alongside Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, and two behind Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah, who each have seven.
Fernandes topped a six-man shortlist after the public’s votes on the EA SPORTS website were combined with those of a panel of football experts.
He will be hoping to claim a March awards double, given his goal against Leicester from last month is shortlisted for the Guinness Goal of the Month award.
For the Manager of the Month award for March, the accolade went to Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espirito Santo, who has now won the award for the seventh time in his Premier League career.
It is the third time this season that Nuno has claimed the award, having already done so in October and December 2024.
The Portuguese has continued to mastermind Forest’s push for a UEFA Champions League place, with his team winning both of their matches in March.
He oversaw a 1-0 win over defending champions Man City before a 4-2 success at Ipswich Town.
Only seven managers have won the award more times than Nuno, who joins Mikel Arteta and Rafa Benitez in the all-time rankings.
Nuno has the chance to become only the fourth manager to win at least four Barclays Manager of the Month awards in a single campaign, after Pep Guardiola in 2017/2018, Arteta in 2022/2023 and Jurgen Klopp in 2019/20, the latter of whom won five.
Nuno has won the award with Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2018, June 2020 and October 2020, with Tottenham Hotspur in August 2021, and now three times with Forest.
He topped a three-man shortlist that included Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Fabian Hurzeler after votes from the public were combined with those of a panel of experts.
Nottingham Forest could yet claim a March awards double, with Anthony Elanga’s first goal against Ipswich named on the Guinness Goal of the Month shortlist.
premierleague.com
