Bruno Fernandes: Rice Would Have Been Perfect for Man United

Man United missed out on Rice in 2023, says Fernandes  

The PFA Player of the Year nominee reveals he wanted Rice at United and believes the midfielder could have helped him break the assist record this season.

Bruno Fernandes says he was gutted when Rice joined Arsenal for £105m in 2023. United had tracked the midfielder since 2021 under Solskjaer...

Bruno Fernandes said he was disappointed that Declan Rice ended up at Arsenal instead of Manchester United.

The United captain was named PFA Football Writers’ Player of the Year and is also in the running for Premier League Player of the Year.

At 31, Bruno Fernandes has had one of the best individual seasons of his United career. He’s one assist shy of matching the Premier League record of 21 in a single campaign, set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

Along with eight goals, his creativity has been outstanding, giving him 29 goal involvements in the league this season.

With numbers like that, Fernandes would be a frontrunner for every individual award. And United’s No. 8 likely would have added even more to his tally if Rice had joined him in midfield.

“I’ve always said, Rice was a player to play for Man Utd, I was really sad when he chose to go Arsenal,” Bruno said in an interview with Joel Baya.

BRUNO FERNANDES WANTED DECLAN RICE TO JOIN MANCHESTER UNITED 👀 pic.twitter.com/D9qlAsuCMa

— Joel Beya (@joelbeya) May 15, 2026

“I always thought he would be a perfect fit for our club.”

Fernandes said Rice would have been a “perfect fit” for United and admitted he felt “really sad” when the midfielder moved to Arsenal from West Ham for £105m in 2023.

United had Rice on their radar as far back as 2021, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was manager. Solskjaer later confirmed there were talks about bringing him to Old Trafford.

But the deal never happened, and United instead signed Raphael Varane that summer.