It is the second time Fernandes has won the award this season after also claiming it in the month of November, and his fourth overall.
Fernandes’ win means he is the first player to win the honour four times in a calendar year and joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Jamie Vardy and Thierry Henry in winning it four times. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero holds the record for most Premier League player of the month awards with seven.
Fernandes scored three times and laid on four assists for his teammates in the month of December and saw off competition from the likes of John Stones, Marcus Rashford, Anwar El Ghazi, Tomas Soucek, Emiliano Martinez, Ben Mee and Mohamed Salah to claim the honour.
The Portuguese international’s performances have helped Manchester United open up a three-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table. The two sides meet at Anfield on Sunday.
"Three goals and four assists was a complete month," Fernandes told the Premier League website after receiving the award. "Scoring and assisting your team-mates is perfect. I want to achieve other trophies and awards but I’m really happy to make history.
"It’s a long way before we can start talking about being champions. We have to keep working. We play against one of the best teams in England and we know what it means to the fans, but the main point is the same: three points.”
