Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was quick to react to Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes winning his latest individual honour at the PFA Awards
David Raya ,Gabriel Magalhães and Declan Rice of Arsenal during the 2026 PFA Awards at the Manchester Opera House
Declan Rice watched on as Bruno Fernandes picked up his PFA Players' Player of the Year award(Image: Getty)
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Declan Rice didn't hesitate to clap for Bruno Fernandes after he was crowned the PFA Players' Player of the Year. The Manchester United captain picked up the honour at the PFA Awards on Tuesday instead of Rice.
Fernandes' heroics last season saw him lead United to a third-place finish and unlikely Champions League qualification. He broke the all-time Premier League assist record with 21, one more than Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry achieved in the 2019/20 and 2002/03 seasons, respectively.
The 31-year-old was largely battling Rice for the award, with the Arsenal talisman having played a major role in his side's title triumph. However, it was the Portugal international who was crowned.
Despite missing out on the trophy, the England midfielder's classy reaction was captured by cameras at the ceremony. Moments after Fernandes was announced as the winner, the camera panned to Rice in the audience and out of his Arsenal team-mates sitting next to him - Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, David Raya and Gabriel - he was by far the most enthusiastic in applause.
Fans praised Rice for being gracious in defeat. One fan wrote: "One thing about Rice, he'll always show respect. Proper mentality." Another user said: "Fair play to Declan Rice."
Rice's team-mates, with whom he was seated, were all voted into the PFA Team of the Year alongside the Englishman. But Fernandes enjoyed a clean sweep of honours after also being voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season.
After picking up the FWA award in May earlier this year, he said: "[It] was a special season, individual for me. And obviously, I'm very proud that all the ones that have decided to help me.
"I haven't thought about the (assists) record much until you guys started commenting so much. Obviously, then when you start getting closer, you start thinking about it and everything.
"But I think it got into more into my strikers and into myself. The more so, you get to score the goal and to give me that feeling that sometimes they even forgot about their own game.
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Bruno Fernandes has been named PFA Players' Player of the Year
Fernandes was named PFA Players' Player of the Year(Image: Professional Footballer's Association)
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"I'm very happy because assisting means that someone is getting goals, and mostly if I'm assisting, Manchester United is getting goals. But obviously, we don't play tennis. We play for just ourselves. We play in a team. We play for a club. We play for our fans."
The shine of Fernandes' glittering campaign officially wore off last Saturday afternoon after United were surprisingly defeated 2-0 by newly-promoted Hull City. The reigning champions enjoyed a different outcome in their season opener, dispatching Coventry City 3-0 at Emirates Stadium.