Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Steven Railston

Gary Neville makes surprising admission about Fred for Manchester United's Player of the Year award

Gary Neville has named Fred as a potential candidate to be named Manchester United's Player of the Year.

David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo are the favourites to win the award this season. De Gea's future at Old Trafford was surrounded by uncertainty last season, but he emphatically bounced back this term to make the No.1 spot his own again.

De Gea started in the maximum of United's 38 Premier League games this season. The Spaniard was wonderfully consistent between the sticks, despite his teammates ahead of him regularly disappointing. De Gea was even named the Premier League's Player of the Month in January, while Ronaldo, who finished the season as United's top goalscorer, won that award twice this term.

OPINION: Mike Phelan is giving Erik ten Hag something he needs at Manchester United this summer.

Although the award seems a two-way contest between Cristiano Ronaldo and De Gea and Neville prefers the latter for the personal accolade, the United legend also named Fred as a possible candidate, as he explained to the club's in-house media,

“How many times has David De Gea won it since Sir Alex left? I’m going to go for De Gea, to be honest with you," Neville said.

"The only other two I could think of would be Fred and Ronaldo. We’d be in dire straits without Ronaldo’s goals but I think, without De Gea, we’d be dead! I could say Ronaldo… Who’s the favourite, is it Ronaldo? I’d go De Gea, Ronaldo, then Fred, in that order.”

Robson agreed with Neville on the matter and he explained why De Gea would be a worthy winner of the award.

“I’d give David the nod. I think there were only two in the running for me – David and Cristiano. But I’d just give it to David because I think, particularly in mid-season, he was outstanding.”

The winner of United's Player of the Year award will be announced next week.

Sign up to our United newsletter so you never miss an update from Old Trafford this season.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.