The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for 2023–2024, given by Adidas, is Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.
Despite an unusual injury, our number eight has had a solid season finale and contributed significantly to Erik ten Hag’s team’s victory throughout the entire campaign.
He finished the division as the Reds’ joint-top scorer, tied with Rasmus Hojlund, and generated more opportunities than any other player for the second consecutive year.
The Portugal international has more than twice the number of assists of any of his teammates with eight, and he has scored 15 goals overall, one more than Hojlund (16).
With five goals in a row, including a double in the victory over Sheffield United last month, Fernandes had the best run of his United career to date.
This semester, he won Player of the Month twice after being nominated in August and April.
He will strive to finish the season with a win over Manchester City on Saturday, leading the Reds out at Wembley once more. In our shootout triumph over Coventry City in the Emirates FA Cup semi-final, he was named Man of the Match and scored in the third game of the cup run.
Bruno was the crowd favorite, as seen by his 40% vote percentage.
Due to his remarkable consistency since August, his countryman Diogo Dalot was our Portuguese magnifico’s closest opponent, receiving 20% of the vote.
Academy players who were teammates on the 2022 FA Youth Cup winning squad placed second and third in the vote. Alejandro Garnacho finished fourth, and Kobbie Mainoo came in third.
Since joining the Reds from Sporting Club in 2020, our captain has already taken home the cherished trophy three times.
After only half a season with the Reds, he won both that first season and the one that followed, 2020–21. Last year, the 29-year-old came in second to Marcus Rashford.
With three wins apiece, only two men have won the honor more frequently than him: Cristiano Ronaldo and David De Gea.
Congratulations to Bruno from all of us at United, and many thanks to everyone who voted!
Diogo Dalot has been selected by Manchester United’s first team players as their Players’ Player of the Year for the 2023–2024 season.
Even though our results have been inconsistent, the Portuguese defender has been a bright spot in an otherwise challenging campaign.
Dalot’s technical skill was immediately apparent when he joined the team from Porto in June 2018 at the age of 19, but he has also been getting stronger physically this year.
In the team’s injury-plagued season, Diogo has played more than any other outfield player, and Erik ten Hag has profited immensely from his versatility on both flanks.
Last week, when asked what it would mean to him to be recognized by his peers with an award, Dalot responded:
For me, it has even greater significance than the huge honor. The supporters, in my opinion, are the most significant component of both my team and myself.
However, my teammates are the ones I meet on a daily basis. We still need to get together, debate, and share these happy and sad moments.
“In the end, this is my second family, and I think it is truly special that your teammates recognize you because they see you every day and are aware of the hard work you do behind the scenes.”
Dalot has provided some thrilling moments this season, but his consistency (and availability) may be what his manager and United supporters across the world admire most.
He opened the scoring in our January third-round match against Wigan Athletic, starting our run to Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup final. Additionally, in October, he struck an incredible David Beckham-esque goal against Sheffield United to win the Reds three points on the day we mourned Sir Bobby Charlton’s passing.
Other highlights include a brilliant cross that led to Scott McTominay’s late triumph over Aston Villa and a heroic block at Old Trafford that stopped West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen from scoring what looked to be a certain goal.
He played 120 sapping minutes of brilliant attack and defense in the Emirates FA Cup, perhaps his best all-around effort in the team’s thrilling 4-3 victory over Liverpool.
The athlete told us that the game was his favorite of the season when we recently met with him.
“As soon as the game ended, I saw people crying at the stadium,” he said. “You feel special just by being there and knowing that you made a tiny difference in their day. Sometimes that makes us feel special.
Congrats on your medal, Diogo, and have an amazing season.
Tezos-sponsored Manchester United Goal of the Season 2023–24 went to Alejandro Garnacho for his amazing overhead strike against Everton.
A record number of votes were cast on ManUtd.com and the United App, and our 10-goal shortlist was absurdly good, with at least four or five of the nominated goals worthy of winning.
However, Garnacho’s exceptional performance was the overwhelming favorite in what may have been the least predicted development of 2024.
Less than three minutes into United’s triumph at Goodison Park in November, the 19-year-old’s amazing skill captured the attention of the football world, with many commentators thinking that it might even be the greatest goal ever scored in Premier League history.
Garnacho, however, was inevitable, and is that any surprise?
Although, with all due credit to the Portuguese, the ball was put a little behind Alejandro, necessitating the deftly performed improvisation that followed, a floated Diogo Dalot cross set up the winning goal.
Garnacho jumped into the air and sent the high ball looping back over Jordan Pickford, the Everton goaltender, into the top corner of the Gwladys Street End net after making a stunning connection. Amazing.
Wayne Rooney’s overhead goal against Manchester City in 2011, which was ultimately chosen as the finest goal of the first 20 Premier League seasons, was immediately compared.
Even though Garnacho’s accomplishment lacks the larger context that made Rooney’s goal not only spectacular but also crucial, it will be appreciated for years to come.
It has now won the club’s version of the coveted Goal of the Season award from the BBC. Alejandro surely has a good chance in the Premier League as well, even if the league hasn’t announced its winner yet
As the late great analyst Kenneth Wolstenholme famously put it, “Good enough to win the league, the cup, Charity Shield, the World Cup and even the Grand National!” This was a Bobby Charlton hit.