\n<\/p>\n
Bruno Fernandes has revealed he was \u201creally sad\u201d when Declan Rice moved to Arsenal over Manchester United.<\/p>\n
Rice is in the running to win the Ballon d\u2019Or this year<\/strong> as his outstanding displays for the Gunners put them on the brink of an historic Premier League, Champions League double.<\/p>\n The England international was strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford through much of his time at West Ham, specifically in 2021 as the Red Devils prepared for the possible exit of Paul Pogba.<\/p>\n Rice completed his \u00a3100m move to Arenal from the Hammers two years later and United captain Fernandes has voiced his frustration at being denied the chance to play alongside him.<\/p>\n During an interview with The Football Writers\u2019 Association, Fernandes said: \u201cI\u2019ve always said, Rice was a player to play for Man United, I was really sad when he chose to go Arsenal.<\/p>\n \u201cI always thought he would be a perfect fit for our club.\u201d<\/p>\n Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently explained that discussions were held over a possible move for Rice in his time at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n On the Stick to Football podcast, the Norwegian said: Yeah, (there was interest) I really, really like him as a player.<\/p>\n \u201cWe discussed him a few times and I think we would have done well with him in midfield. I think his legs, covering the pitch. I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernandes<\/strong> was conducting the interview after being named the the Football Writers\u2019 Association Footballer of the Year and said he was \u201cvery grateful\u201d to the FWA members.<\/p>\n Fernandes said: \u201cObviously it\u2019s always nice to see a lot of people have voted for you and I know this is a massive award in the UK and for me it\u2019s very special to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that the club have not had a winner since 2010 with Wayne Rooney and that makes it even more special for me.<\/p>\n \u201cIt also comes from people who follow football from all around the UK, people who work in the background behind the players and it makes it very special.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, you like to see good things out there about you \u2013 you don\u2019t like it as much when it\u2019s not so good \u2013 but it\u2019s part of the job.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously when these moments come, I\u2019m very grateful for the opportunity to be here on behalf of the people who voted for me and also the ones who didn\u2019t vote for me and who made other choices.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously everyone has different opinion, different tastes, but I\u2019m very happy and very honoured to receive this award.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means a lot, I\u2019ve always said that I\u2019d rather it was a collective award rather than individual ones but, as a player, you would rather this type of occasion to also show you are doing things right.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also I want to achieve everything that those (other United) players achieved in terms of winning with the club. But being in their company with this award is massively important for me and I won\u2019t hide from that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know, as I\u2019ve said before, it\u2019s a collective job what we do but when individually you get recognised for what you\u2019ve done during the season it feels very special.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Five managers who will break their personal transfer record this summer<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\u2018Very happy and very honoured\u2019<\/h2>\n