Bruno Fernandes: Man United and Portugal midfielder won the Football Writers’ Association Men’s Footballer of the Year award.

There is no doubt that Manchester United have pushed Bruno Fernandes to win this award.

United have been accommodating Fernandez’s claims and confirmed the Portuguese player’s promotion in recent media appearances.

However, it would have been pointless if Fernandez hadn’t delivered when United wanted him to deliver.

When Fernandez talked about qualifying for the Champions League in October, few thought it would happen.

It seemed a tall order when technical director Jason Wilcox told United’s squad in January that Ruben Amorim was his target despite the sacking.

He achieved it in three matches and could end the campaign with more points to the title than in any season since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago.

Sunday’s win over Liverpool was Fernandez’s third in 16 games without a goal or a clean sheet since returning from a rare injury against Burnley.

His performances throughout the season were consistently high and deserved wide recognition.

Twelve months ago, when Fernandes’ United future was debated, the question asked was simply this: where would they be without him? The suspicion was that they were much closer to going down than they actually were.

Now the same thing can be asked. The answer? They are not looking forward to the return of the Champions League.