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The Premier League Player of the Month award was introduced at the start of the 1994/95 season. Since then, the award has aimed to recognize the best player in the league for each month of the season. The winner is selected based on votes from fans on the official website, which has a 10% contribution in the final tally, and votes from club captains as well as panel experts.
Since the inception of the awards, Manchester United have dominated the awards, right until the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. 16 players won it 32 times under the legendary Scot; a record that started with Paul Ince in October 1994 and continued right until Robin van Persie lifted the award in April 2013.
Since then though, the Red Devils’ grip on the award has been a little loose. Only four players have won the award since the retirement of Ferguson. Read on to find out who they are.
#4 Anthony Martial (September 2015)
Anthony Martial joined Manchester United from Monaco in the summer of 2015 and took to the Premier League like fish to water. At just 19 years of age, the Frenchman was expected to be the one for the future, but Martial blew everyone away with an explosive debut against Liverpool. He entered the field as a 65th-minute substitute, replacing Juan Mata and after scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win over the Reds, etched his name into United folklore.
The Frenchman then inspired United to a fantastic 3-2 comeback win against Southampton, scoring a brace to help his team gather all three points. With three goals and one assist, Martial’s impact in his first month in the Premier League helped him win the Premier League Player of the Month award for September 2015. In doing so, Martial became the first United player to win the award since van Persie.
Martial ended the month with four goals after finding the net against Ipswich Town in the League Cup and also won the Manchester United Player of the Month award. Until the start of this year, he was the only United player to have won the award in his first full month in the Premier League.
#3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (December 2016)
Jose Mourinho managed a coup when he convinced Zlatan Ibrahimovic to join Manchester United in the summer of 2016 as a free agent. The talismanic Swede turned out to be a huge hit in the United shirt and wasted no time to make his presence felt at Old Trafford.
He scored in his debut for the club as well as his Premier League debut and was a popular figure among the United faithful. And in December 2016, Ibrahimovic‘s form earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award.
The Swede started off the month with a fantastic finish against Everton at Goodison Park and then scored the winner in the following game against Crystal Palace. He followed that up with a brace against West Bromwich Albion and then ended the month with a goal against Sunderland. The Swede finished the month with five goals and three assists; no player in the league managed more goals than him in December 2016.
Ibrahimovic’s season ended on a sour note when he injured his knee in the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht at Old Trafford, on the 20th of April 2017. The injury ruled him out for the rest of the season, but the Swede had managed to score 28 goals in 46 appearances for United by then.
#2 Marcus Rashford (January 2019)
The arrival of Solskjaer at Old Trafford added a bit of positivity and optimism to the United squad and the player who benefitted the most from it was Marcus Rashford. The Englishman, who had looked a shadow of himself earlier in the 2018/19 season, turned over a new leaf under the Norwegian and went from strength to strength under his tutelage.
Rashford scored the first goal of Solskjaer’s tenure as United boss and was particularly impressive in January 2019. The Englishman finished the month with three goals from six games and won the Premier League Player of the Month award.
Rashford started January with a goal in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United and then scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. He also scored the winner in the 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in his 150th appearance for Manchester United.
Besides, the Englishman was selected as the United Player for the Month for January and his goal against Spurs was also voted as the club’s Goal of the Month. Rashford was in scintillating form for the Red Devils earlier this season before suffering a back injury which he's still recovering from.
#1 Bruno Fernandes (February 2020)
Bruno Fernandes' arrival at Old Trafford triggered a fantastic run of form for his new club - United are now unbeaten in all competitions since Fernandes arrived in England. The Portuguese made the move to the Premier League on the penultimate day of the January transfer window and was immediately drafted into the team against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of February.
Right from the start, it was clear that Fernandes was something special and even though the game ended in a 0-0 draw, his performance was hugely impressive.
The Portuguese followed that up by inspiring the Red Devils to wins over Chelsea and Watford in the Premier League. His impact was instantaneous and Old Trafford got a new hero. He was rewarded with the Premier League Player of the Month award for February, a recognition of his blistering start to life in England.
In doing so, the Portuguese became only the second United player after Martial to win the award after his first full month in the league.
So far, Fernandes has scored three goals and registered four assists in nine appearances in all competition. He was also voted the United Player of the Month as well as the PFA fan’s Player of the Month for February.
