Manchester United star could beat Bruno Fernandes to Player of the Year award

The voting for the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award officially opened this week.

Manchester United have endured an abysmal Premier League season, but someone will be named POTY and Bruno Fernandes is the hot favourite to claim the prize for a second successive year.

Fernandes won the award for a third time last season and is looking to emulate David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are the only players to have won the prize on four occasions.

Most believe Fernandes is a shoo-in for the award and you certainly wouldn't bet against him winning it again. Fernandes has continued to be a driving force in a struggling team this season and United might have been dragged into a relegation scrap without him.

And would United be in the Europa League final without Fernandes? He has contributed seven goals and five assists in the competition, including a brace against Athletic Bilbao.

Fernandes will be remembered among the greatest United captains when he eventually leaves the club. He is a Bryan Robson-esque figure and would be a worthy winner of POTY again.

Yet there could be a cat put among the pigeons if Amad can sprinkle some magic in next week's Europa League final. Amad was a leading contender for the POTY award until he sustained an ankle injury during training in February.

It's easy to forget that Amad had arguably become United's most important player in the winter. He scored the matchwinner against Manchester City in December, the equaliser against Liverpool at Anfield and netted a sensational 10 minute hat-trick against Southampton.

Amad's momentum was disrupted by injury, but any concerns that he'd take a while to get up to speed after his return have been made to look pretty daft over the last three weeks.

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