There are individual awards, and then there is the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award. Its particular prestige comes from the electorate: the players themselves. To be recognised by the professionals who share the pitch, understand the demands of the game and compete against you every week carries a significance of its own.
In 2026, Bruno Fernandes became the latest Manchester United player to receive that recognition, winning the Men’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year award after being selected by his fellow professionals. He joined a remarkable United lineage: Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney. Eight different Manchester United players, representing different teams, roles and eras, but united by one distinction.
Eric Cantona — 1993/94
It is fitting that Manchester United’s first winner in this group was Eric Cantona.
Cantona was more than an outstanding footballer in the early years of Sir Alex Ferguson’s great United sides. He became one of the defining figures of the club’s return to the summit of English football. In 1993/94, United won the Premier League and FA Cup Double, and Cantona was voted PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
His influence was not simply about statistics. Cantona brought imagination, confidence and personality to a team beginning to understand how dominant it could become. He played with an authority that made him instantly identifiable with the new Manchester United.
The award recognised an exceptional player, but history gave it greater meaning: Cantona’s triumph came during the formative years of a dynasty.
Roy Keane — 1999/2000
(Sean Dempsey/PA)
If Cantona represented inspiration, Roy Keane represented authority.
By the 1999/2000 season, Manchester United were already European champions and Keane was the captain at the centre of one of the strongest teams in the club’s history. His PFA award reflected the enormous respect he commanded within English football.
Keane's game combined aggression and intensity with qualities that could sometimes be overshadowed by his reputation as a fierce competitor. He could dictate midfield, recover possession, drive his team forward and assume responsibility when matches became difficult.
Being voted the outstanding player by his peers was therefore especially appropriate. Keane embodied the competitive standards of Ferguson’s United, and the recognition confirmed that opponents understood his importance just as clearly as his own team-mates did.
Teddy Sheringham — 2000/01
(Image credit: Martin Rickett)
Then came perhaps the most intriguing name on the list: Teddy Sheringham.
Sheringham’s 2000/01 award demonstrated that individual excellence does not belong exclusively to players at the beginning or peak physical years of their careers. At 35, his intelligence, technique and understanding of the game remained enormously valuable.
United won a third consecutive Premier League title that season, while Sheringham enjoyed one of his finest individual campaigns. His ability to find space and connect attacking moves made him a distinctive forward.
His victory also illustrates what makes the PFA award so compelling. Fellow professionals can recognise qualities that go beyond speed or spectacle. Sheringham's football intelligence was part of what made him such an effective player, and in 2001 his peers placed him above everyone else.
Ruud van Nistelrooy — 2001/02
(Image credit: Phil Noble)
One season later, the award remained at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy arrived at Manchester United with the responsibility of scoring goals for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. He responded immediately.
The Dutch striker's first season in English football established the characteristics that would define his United career: movement inside the penalty area, composure in front of goal and a relentless appetite for scoring.
Van Nistelrooy was not merely adapting to the Premier League. He was imposing himself upon it.
His 2001/02 PFA Players’ Player of the Year award confirmed the immediate impression he had made on his opponents. Sheringham had won through experience and intelligence; Van Nistelrooy followed him with the ruthless efficiency of an elite goalscorer.
Cristiano Ronaldo — 2006/07 and 2007/08
© REUTERS/Toby Melville
No Manchester United player has dominated this award quite like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award in consecutive seasons, 2006/07 and 2007/08. Manchester United also confirm that he collected both the PFA Players’ Player and Fans’ Player awards in those two campaigns.
The first represented the transformation of an extraordinarily gifted young winger into one of English football’s outstanding players. United reclaimed the Premier League title in 2006/07, while Ronaldo accumulated individual honours, including both the PFA Players’ Player and Young Player awards.
Then he went even further.
In 2007/08, Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions as United won both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. It remains one of the great individual seasons produced by a Manchester United player.
Winning once demonstrated the respect of his peers. Winning twice consecutively demonstrated sustained supremacy.
Ryan Giggs — 2008/09
After Ronaldo came a player whose relationship with Manchester United stretched across generations.
Ryan Giggs was voted PFA Players’ Player of the Year for 2008/09, adding the award to a career already filled with major honours.
There was something particularly symbolic about Giggs receiving it at that stage of his career. He had been part of United's first Premier League title-winning generation and remained a contributor as Ferguson constructed another side capable of dominating England and challenging for Europe's biggest prizes.
By 2008/09, United were again Premier League champions and reached another Champions League final. Giggs had evolved over the years, adapting his game as his career progressed.
The award therefore felt like recognition not simply of longevity, but of longevity at the highest level.
Wayne Rooney — 2009/10
The succession continued with Wayne Rooney.
With Ronaldo having left Manchester United in 2009, Rooney assumed even greater attacking responsibility. His response in 2009/10 produced one of the outstanding individual seasons of his career and earned him the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award.
Rooney represented a different kind of attacking star. He combined goals with physical commitment, creativity and an ability to influence matches in several areas of the pitch.
His PFA victory also completed an extraordinary sequence for United: Ronaldo in 2007 and 2008, Giggs in 2009 and Rooney in 2010. Four consecutive awards went to Manchester United players, with three different winners.
It was a reflection of the extraordinary concentration of individual talent within Ferguson's teams during that period.
Bruno Fernandes — 2025/26
Sixteen years after Rooney’s triumph, a Manchester United player stood at the top again.
Bruno Fernandes was named the Men’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year for 2026, selected by his fellow professionals. He was also included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year alongside midfielders Declan Rice and Rayan Cherki.
His victory carries particular historical weight because of the names preceding him.
Cantona. Keane. Sheringham. Van Nistelrooy. Ronaldo. Giggs. Rooney.
And now Fernandes.
Those players did not all resemble one another. Cantona was a creative catalyst; Keane a commanding midfielder; Sheringham an intelligent forward; Van Nistelrooy an elite finisher; Ronaldo an explosive attacking phenomenon; Giggs a master of longevity and adaptation; Rooney an all-action attacker; Fernandes a creative midfielder entrusted with enormous responsibility.
That diversity is precisely what makes Manchester United’s PFA history so interesting.
Eight Players, Nine Awards, One Remarkable Lineage
The list contains eight different Manchester United players and nine winning awards, because Ronaldo won the honour twice.
It also tells part of the story of Manchester United across more than three decades. Cantona’s 1994 victory belongs to the rise of Ferguson’s first great Premier League side. Keane, Sheringham and Van Nistelrooy represent the transition from the Treble-winning generation into the early 2000s. Ronaldo, Giggs and Rooney belong to another period of sustained domestic and European success.
Fernandes now adds his name to that history.
The PFA Players’ Player of the Year cannot by itself define a career, a season or an era. Football remains a collective sport, and individual awards never tell the entire story. But this particular prize carries a simple and powerful message: the people who played against you believed you were the outstanding player among them.
For eight Manchester United players, that judgement has placed their names on the same distinguished list.
From Cantona in 1994 to Fernandes in 2026, the personalities have changed, the teams have changed and football itself has changed.
The recognition from their peers has not.
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FAQ
HOW MANY MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS HAVE WON THE PFA PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD?
Eight different Manchester United players have won the award: Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Bruno Fernandes.
WHO WAS THE FIRST MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYER TO WIN THE PFA AWARD?
Eric Cantona was the first Manchester United player on this list, winning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the 1993/94 season.
WHICH MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYER HAS WON THE AWARD TWICE?
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only Manchester United player to have won the award twice. He claimed it in consecutive seasons, 2006/07 and 2007/08.
HOW MANY PFA PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS HAVE MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS WON?
These eight Manchester United players have won nine awards in total, as Cristiano Ronaldo won the honour twice.
WHICH MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS WON THE PFA AWARD BETWEEN 2007 AND 2010?
Manchester United produced four consecutive winners: Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006/07 and 2007/08, Ryan Giggs in 2008/09 and Wayne Rooney in 2009/10.
WHO IS THE LATEST MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYER TO WIN THE PFA AWARD?
Bruno Fernandes is the latest Manchester United player on the list, winning the award for the 2025/26 season.
WHY IS THE PFA PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD SO PRESTIGIOUS?
The distinction carries particular prestige because professional footballers vote for the winner. It therefore represents recognition from the players who compete alongside and against the candidates throughout the season.
WHICH EIGHT MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS HAVE WON THE AWARD?
The eight winners are Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Bruno Fernandes.
