VOTE FOR OUR FINAL PLAYER OF THE MONTH FROM 2019/20

Three Manchester United players have been nominated for August’s Player-of-the-Month award – the final such accolade of the elongated 2019/20 campaign.

The domestic season may have been wrapped up in July, but the Reds were involved in the latter stages of a Europa League tournament forced into a revamp due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After completing a 7-1 aggregate victory over LASK at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men set up camp in Cologne, where we progressed to the last four of the competition with a 1-0 extra-time victory over FC Copenhagen.

Six days later, however, five-time Europa League winners Sevilla came from behind to break United hearts and end hopes of finishing a promising season with silverware.

There were a number of notable performers but the trio up for August’s award are Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Anthony Martial – scroll down to find out why!

Mason Greenwood, Juan Mata, Paul Pogba and Brandon Williams also received nominations.

THE CONTENDERS

BRUNO FERNANDES

After being given a watching brief from the bench as United saw off LASK at the beginning of the month, the Portuguese playmaker was recalled to the side for our FC Copenhagen and Sevilla tests, nervelessly notching from the spot in each game. That’s eight converted penalties out of eight for Fernandes in a red shirt now – five of them helping United break the deadlock. Although our no.18’s ice-cool finish from 12 yards and peerless performance in open play during Sunday’s semi-final ultimately wasn’t enough to help us into a second Europa League final in four years, his productivity and relentless drive – best characterised by the minor set-to with Victor Lindelof after Luuk De Jong’s winning goal – stood out once again, ensuring a fifth consecutive nomination in our monthly awards. Can he make it four wins out of five?

FRED

Our January winner was in the form of his Old Trafford career prior to lockdown, but Paul Pogba’s return and Nemanja Matic’s resurgence saw him limited to just 132 league minutes in June and July. Yet Ole called upon the Brazilian to start each of our three Europa League games in August, first alongside Scott McTominay in M16 and then as a screen behind the mercurial talents of Pogba and Fernandes in Cologne. Despite only playing half of the 120 minutes against FC Copenhagen, the former Shakhtar Donetsk man recorded a team-high three interceptions and followed that up with another strong performance versus Sevilla. No player on the pitch managed more than Fred’s seven tackles as he fought doggedly to win the ball back and help the Reds maintain the pressure, especially during a stunning 15-minute period after half-time.

ANTHONY MARTIAL

Tony’s late winner against LASK, shortly after being introduced as a substitute, ultimately clinched his place at the top of United’s goalscoring charts for 2019/20, but it was in Cologne – despite not adding to his 23 strikes – where the Frenchman really showed how much progress he’s made as a no.9. Martial came alive during the latter stages of normal time in our quarter-final, forcing the Danes’ goalkeeper Karl Johan-Johnsson into making an incredible save and a point-blank stop, before winning the crucial penalty early on in extra-time. The 24-year-old also played a crucial part in the spot-kick decision that went in United’s favour in our next game against Sevilla, holding the ball up well under pressure before slipping in Marcus Rashford, who was fouled.

HOW TO VOTE

The Player-of-the-Month poll is now open on our Official App, which is free to download. Be quick to cast your vote, with the poll set to close on Saturday, when the winner will be announced