Premier League Player of the Year: Declan Rice, Bruno Fernandes and GOAL's top 50 for the 2025-26 season - ranked

This was far from a vintage season for Newcastle as a poor summer of recruitment led to the Magpies falling from their fifth-placed finish of last season to 12th in 2025-26. One of those to emerge with some credit, however, was Sandro Tonali, with the Italian midfielder again showing just why some of Europe's biggest clubs are showing an interest in signing him this summer.

From his deep-lying midfield role, Tonali looked to drive Eddie Howe's side forward, with his range of passing particularly impressive. If this was to be his final campaign at St. James' Park, he made sure to make his mark once more.

Having suffered relegation in each of his last three top-flight campaigns, with Sheffield United, Venezia and Spezia, Ethan Ampadu led Leeds United back into the Premier League with a point to prove. And prove that point he did, as the Wales international proved to be one of the best all-action midfielders in the division while Leeds survived with games to spare.

Ampadu ranked in the top five per cent for midfielders within the division when it came to both duels won and overall defensive contributions, while he was one the more potent purveyors of the long throw over the course of the season. Tying their Player of the Year down to a new contract, with his current one set to expire in 2027, needs to be a pre-season priority for Daniel Farke's side.

Not since the 2020-21 season has Reece James played as many Premier League games as he managed this time around, as the Chelsea captain managed to almost shake off the injury bug that has plagued his career to date. The Blues were all the better for it, too, as James shone at both right-back and in central midfield.

It was no surprise that when James did eventually miss time with a hamstring injury through the spring, the Liam Rosenior era fell apart in the England international's absence. Xabi Alonso will be praying, then, that his skipper won't be forced to watch from the sidelines too often once he steps into the Stamford Bridge dugout.

Ezri Konsa remains one of the most consistent defenders in the Premier League, with the Aston Villa centre-back one of the biggest reasons for Unai Emery's side securing a top-five finish and return to the Champions League.

Not only is Konsa a superb defender, his passing is also outstanding, with no centre-back able to match him for successful pass rate within the English top-flight this term. His reward could yet be a starting role for England at the World Cup this summer.

Given they finished just seven points behind Manchester Cty, how close to the top two would Manchester United have got if Kobbie Mainoo had not been ostracised by Ruben Amorim? The England midfielder was ready to leave Old Trafford at the start of the January transfer window after failing to start a single Premier League game through the first half of the campaign, only to outlast Amorim before thriving under Michael Carrick.

Mainoo has started all-but one of United's games under Carrick - and they lost the match he he was unavailable for - while producing a number of eye-catching performances during which he has showcased his fine array of passing. His winning goal against Liverpool capped Mainoo's resurrection, as he also played himself back into the England reckoning in time to make Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad.

Sunderland weren't shy in targeting players with experience at the very highest level during their summer spending spree, but it was still something of a coup to persuade Nordi Mukiele, who had spent the previous six seasons playing in the Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, to join Regis Le Bris' project at the Stadium of Light.

That the Black Cats were able to do so while also forking out a modest £9.5 million fee makes it all the more impressive, and Mukiele has more than paid back that investment him. The right-back has been a marauding presence for Sunderland, chipping in with three goals and three assists, while his experience has been key in ensuring a sense of defensive stability on Wearside. His reward is a return to the European stage next term.

There have been a number of heroes within the Bournemouth ranks as the Cherries secured European qualification for the first time in their history, with Alex Scott lead among them. The midfielder has enjoyed a breakout season at the Vitality Stadium, to the point that he received his first England call-up in November.

Aged just 22, Scott already looks like one of the best tempo-setting midfielders in the Premier League, and it is perhaps no surprise that the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are being linked with the ex-Bristol City starlet.

One of the finest exponents of the line-breaking pass in the Premier League, Adam Wharton has enjoyed another excellent campaign in dictating Crystal Palace's play from the No.6 position. He ranked third in the entire league for expected assists (xA) with 7.4, while he even managed to finally score his first Palace goal, which he celebrated with an extravagant backflip!

Linked to Real Madrid and Manchester City in the past, Wharton will surely be on a number of shopping lists this summer, even despite his surprise omission from England's World Cup squad.

Brighton are back in Europe after securing qualification for the Conference League, a success that was built on the Seagulls' strong defence. Only Arsenal and Manchester City conceded fewer goals than the Seagulls this term, with Jan Paul van Hecke the outstanding member of that backline.

The Netherlands centre-back has grown into a commanding presence at the Amex Stadium, while his willingness to carry the ball forward has helped add an extra dimension to Brighton's play when in possession. Throw in his three goals and three assists, and Van Hecke can rightly claim to have had an impactful campaign.

It has not always been plain sailing for Enzo Fernandez this season, with the Argentine even suspended for two weeks by Chelsea after some rather open flirting with Real Madrid during March's international break. But when Fernandez has been on it, few midfielders have been able to match him across the English top-flight.

He has managed 10 Premier League goals this season, by far the best return of his Blues career to date, while only two players have created more chances than Fernandez (68) across the whole division. Whether the hiring of Xabi Alonso will be enough to keep Fernandez in west London remains to be seen, but few can argue that he hasn't made an impact if this was his farewell campaign.

There aren't many players who are as vital to their team's prospects of winning within the Premier League as Bruno Guimaraes. Newcastle's inspirational captain again led from the front during a difficult season on Tyneside, scoring nine goals and providing five assists, but it was when he wasn't there that his presence was most keenly felt.

Newcastle won just two of the league 11 games that Guimaraes failed to start as they struggled to adapt to life without their driving force from midfied. And so while the Magpies prepare to sell some of their biggest names, they cannot allow Guimaraes to leave at any cost.

Among outfield players, only Virgil van Dijk played more Premier League minutes this season than James Garner, whose form for Everton earned him his first England caps in March. The former Manchester United trainee was everywhere for the Toffees, as he covered the most ground of any player in the entire league while topping the charts to tackles (120) and interceptions (59).

Factor in his two goals and seven assists as well as his excellent dead-ball deliveries, and Garner has proven to be one of the first names on David Moyes' teamsheets. Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, has compared Garner to Fede Valverde due to his all-round ability, and it's easy to see why.

Plenty of Premier League clubs went in search of new goalkeepers during the summer of 2025, but few did a better job than Sunderland after they plucked little-known Robin Roefs away from NEC in the Eredivisie. The Dutchman became an instant hero among the Stadium of Light faithful, and must go down as one of the bargain buys of the year anywhere in Europe after costing just £9m.

Only five 'keepers have kept more clean sheets than Roefs' 10 in the English top-flight this term, while his save percentage of 70.3% is better than those posted by the likes of David Raya, Jordan Pickford and Alisson Becker.

After turning down the chance to join Liverpool in the summer of 2024, Martin Zubimendi eventually landed in the Premier League 12 months later, joining Arsenal despite a last-ditch effort from Real Madrid to keep the midfielder in Spain. Zubimendi immediately formed half of one of the best central duos in the top-flight alongside Declan Rice as he provided energy and intelligence to the Gunners' engine room.

The former Real Sociedad star also managed to chip in with five goals, and though he seemed to run out of gas down the stretch, leading to him losing his place in the line-up for the final weeks of the campaign, he was still able to appear in every match of Arsenal's title win.

Is Viktor Gyokeres the most technically gifted footballer to ever represent Arsenal? Is he the most natural goal-scorer in the Gunners' illustrious history?Is he even the answer to their much-discussed No.9 problem? The answer to all those questions may well be 'no', but that is not to say that Gyokeres hasn't played his part in the success of Mikel Arteta's side.

Only six players in the entire division netted more than the 14 Premier League goals that Gyokeres managed since arriving from Sporting CP. And while his critics will point to the majority of those strikes coming against teams in the lower reaches of the table, those goals still needed scoring, and Gyokeres was able to produce the goods when his predecessors in the role might have come up short.

When Chelsea hosted Arsenal in late November, not only were the top two teams in the table being pitched against one another, but much of the build-up centred on the match-up between the players being touted as the two best midfielders in the league: Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo.

The latter ended up taking the headlines at Stamford Bridge, but all the wrong reasons, as Caicedo got himself sent off before half-time of the 1-1 draw. That seemed to mark a turning point in the Ecuador international's campaign as he struggled to fully rediscover his best form following his suspension.

Still, Caicedo topped the season-long charts for interceptions (59), constantly caused problems with his pressing and chipped in with three goals from his deep-lying role.

Bryan Mbeumo was a wanted man last summer, but the ex-Brentford forward rejected the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle so as to join the club he supported as a boy, Manchester United. And while Mbeumo hasn't been able to match the 20 Premier League goals he mustered during his final season at the Gtech Community Stadium, he has still managed to find the net on 11 occasions during his debut campaign at Old Trafford.

Mbeumo got off to a flying start, and by early February had scored nine goals in 20 league appearances, while his partnership down the right-hand side with Amad Diallo was one of the few plus points to emerge from Ruben Amorim's time in charge. However, the Cameroon international's form has dropped off during the final months of the campaign and he has spent time on the bench under Michael Carrick. Still, his impact on the Red Devils has been mostly positive.

It was scarcely believable when news broke that Paris Saint-Germain were ready to listen to offers for Gianluigi Donnarumma last summer. The Italy international's heroics had played a huge role in Luis Enrique's side winning the Champions League, and so while Donnarumma doesn't match Pep Guardiola's typical style of goalkeeper, bringing him to the Etihad for a knock-down fee was an offer that was too good for Manchester City to turn down.

Donnarumma has admittedly had some sticky moments with the ball at his feet and struggled at times when pressured from set-pieces, but from a shot-stopping perspective he has been unmatched upon his arrival into the Premier League. He ranks first for both save percentage (72.9%) and goals prevented (5.8), while only Golden Glove winner David Raya can better his 15 clean sheets.

Arsenal finally ending their 22-year wait for the Premier League title means 2025-26 will go down as one of the best seasons of Bukayo Saka's career, even if he didn't hit the same personal heights as in previous campaigns. His attacking returns, seven goals and five assists, are nothing to write home about, but Saka still stood up at important times for the Gunners.

He played big roles in narrow wins over Wolves and Brighton, for example, while he returned from injury in May to inspire Arsenal's best performance of the run-in when they beat Fulham. It also must be pointed out that while Saka only started 25 league matches, there were only five players who created more chances than him (61) over the entire season.

Liverpool's headline-grabbing, £450m summer spending spree may not have gone as well as many at Anfield would have hoped, but the one positive in terms of new arrivals this season has undoubtedly been Hugo Ekitike. Signed from Eintracht Frankfurt from under the noses of Newcastle, Ekitike earned comparisons to Fernando Torres on his way to scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in the Premier League before an Achilles injury ended his campaign in March.

Ekitike's assuredness in front of goal combined with his superb close control and eye for a pass have marked him out as one of the best all-round forwards in the Premier League already, and it is a real shame that he won't be gracing the field again for another six months while he recovers full fitness.

Matheus Cunha's season has run in almost exact opposite to that of fellow new United forward Bryan Mbeumo, with the summer signing from Wolves enduring something of a slow start to life at Old Trafford before enjoying an uptick in form under Michael Carrick.

His six goals and three assists since the former England midfielder took charge included a stunning winner against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and the only goal in April's victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. That run propelled to Cunha to a third-straight season with a double-figure goal tally in the English top-flight, while his versatility within the forward positions also proved advantageous.

One of the great sliding doors moments of the season came on transfer deadline day in September, when Crystal Palace pulled the plug on Marc Guehi's long-protracted move to Liverpool after they failed to sign a replacement for their captain. As a result, the Reds' defence lurched from one shambolic performance to another, while their failure to land Guehi allowed Manchester City to steal in and secure the England international's signature in a cut-price, £20m January deal.

With Guehi's contract at Selhurst Park set to expire, City took advantage as they dealt with a defensive injury crisis of their own. He played every minute of Premier League action following his arrival at the Etihad until he was given the final match of the season off, and though it hasn't all been plain sailing - his mishit back-pass against Everton proved to be the decisive moment of the title race - Guehi has barely missed a beat after an equally-impressive first half of the season with Palace.

Talk about a season of two halves! Ollie Watkins managed to score just three Premier League goals before Christmas, leading to him being benched on more than occasion by Unai Emery and questions being asked of whether Aston Villa might have to begin searching for a replacement striker in the months that folllowed.

Watkins, however, bounced back and netted 13 times in his final 20 games of the campaign - including braces to beat each of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City - to finish fourth in the Golden Boot race and again show why he is widely regarded as England's best No.9 option behind Harry Kane.

With Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi having departed for Real Madrid and PSG, respectively, Bournemouth needed someone to step up at centre-back this season, and Marcos Senesi did just that. The Argentine started every match but one for the Cherries and showed his experience with a number of cool-headed displays at the Vitality Stadium.

Senesi finished the season ranked first among Premier League central defenders for interceptions (55) and tackles (62), as well as second for blocked shots (47). With him now set to depart as a free agent, he will leave another gaping hole in the Bournemouth backline this summer.

Since arriving into the Premier League in 2023, Jeremy Doku's talent has been obvious, but getting him to produce consistently had remained a challenge for Pep Guardiola. And while the Belgium international still isn't dominating games week in, week out, there were enough signs in Guardiola's final season at the Manchester City helm that Doku is close to becoming one of the very best wingers around.

His performance in tearing Liverpool apart at the start of November was one of the most devastating of the whole campaign, while the way in which he stood up twice in the space of a week, against Everton and Brentford, during the run-in suggested that Doku is starting to mature and learn how to produce the goods on a more regular basis.

Danny Welbeck might be approaching his 36th birthday, but the former Manchester United and Arsenal forward continues to show his class in a Brighton shirt as his 13 goals helped fire the Seagulls back into Europe for just the second time in their history.

As well as still knowing where the back of the net is with an unerring finishing ability, Welbeck is also one of the best 'defensive forwards' around, with him among the best for interceptions and tackles among his peers in the English top-flight.

Leeds United knew they needed a proven goal-scorer when they arrived back into the Premier League last summer, so that they plumped for injury-plagued Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer in mid-August raised plenty of eyebrows. The 29-year-old had mustered just 17 league goals over the past four seasons combined before leaving Everton for pastures new.

However, Calvert-Lewin has been revitalised in West Yorkshire, and a run of scoring in six successive games through November and December kickstarted his and Leeds' campaign. Only six players managed more than his 14 goals for the campaign, meaning the England recall he received in March was well deserved.

West Ham may have suffered relegation, but Jarrod Bowen can hardly be blamed for the Irons' plight. The club captain continued to lead from the front throughout the season, and ended it ranking third in the entire division for assists (11), and joint-fifth for combined goals and assists (20).

Given those numbers were produced in a struggling side, it's a little puzzling that Bowen has been left out of England's World Cup squad. Still, expect him to be one of the hottest properties on the transfer market with it unlikely he will accept playing Championship football at the age of 29.

Given how close Harry Wilson cam to leaving Fulham on deadline day at the end of the summer transfer window, the Cottagers must be mightily relieved that they were able to hang onto the Wales international given what he produced thereafter.

Wilson was genuinely being spoken about as a Player-of-the-Season candidate at the halfway point of the season as he routinely grabbed games by the scruff of the neck while producing spectacular strikes or sumptuous crosses for others to score from. That he only ended the campaign with 10 goals and seven assists owes a lot to a disappointing final few weeks, but he is still set to have plenty of offers to choose from as he enters the free agent pool.

The bar that a Manchester United goalkeeper needs to clear for fans to get behind them has admittedly been lowered in recent years, but that shouldn't take away from what Senne Lammens has produced during his debut campaign at Old Trafford. Preferred to Emiliano Martinez when the Red Devils were weighing up their options towards the end of the summer window, Lammens has handled the step up from Royal Antwerp with relative ease despite his lack of top-level experience.

The 23-year-old has exuded confidence to the United defence while he has coped particularly well with the barrage of set-pieces that modern day 'keepers have to deal with in English football. From a shot-stopping perspective, meanwhile, he ranks second for goals prevented (4.4) behind only Gigi Donnarumma.

This was almost certainly Elliot Anderson's final season as a Nottingham Forest player as the Premier League's elite continue to circle one of the most in-demand midfielders on the planet. Anderson showed just he is so sought after despite Forest's struggles, too, with another all-action campaign at the City Ground.

Among defensive midfielders in the top-flight, Anderson ranked first for successful passes (2,038), successful dribbles (50), duels won (297) and defensive contributions (516), while he was also the most fouled player (80) in the entire division, highlighting his press resistant qualities. Throw in his four goals and four assists, and Anderson is clearly in the form of his life heading into his first World Cup with England.

Bernardo Silva doesn't always get the plaudits he deserves after spending his Premier League career surrounded by legends at Manchester City, but the Portugal international showed exactly why is so revered at the Etihad Stadium during his final campaign with the club he joined nine years ago.

Bernardo started 34 of City's games, and despite him approaching his 32nd birthday, he showed endless energy to the very last. He features an incredible four times in this season's top 10 list of the most distance covered in a single match, and while he only managed to find the net on a couple of occasions, he still played a key role in many of City's best attacking moves. He will be sorely missed.

In what was another successful season for Aston Villa, Morgan Rogers was undoubtedly their shining light. The midfielder started every Premier League game until he was given the final match of the season off by Unai Emery, with that a well deserved break after a campaign during which the 23-year-old took a huge step towards superstardom.

Rogers scored 10 goals in the league, with a number coming via stunning, long-range strikes, while he chipped in with six assists and finished in the top five in terms of distance covered across the whole league. It is those returns which could yet lead to him keeping Jude Bellingham out of the England line up at this summer's World Cup.

When Eli Junior Kroupi was coming through the ranks at Lorient, he earned comparisons to Kylian Mbappe thanks to his wiry frame, pace to get in behind defences and unerring finishing ability. Certainly all of that has been on show during his debut year in the Premier League, with Bournemouth's European qualification owing plenty to Kroupi's goal-scoring form.

Last season's top scorer in the French second tier, the 19-year-old wasted little time in getting used to the English top-flight, and his eventual 13 goals saw Kroupi break the record for the most scored by a teenager during their first Premier League campaign. So impressive was he that clubs from even higher up the table are already sniffing around ahead of the transfer window opening.

The football certainly looked like it had left Casemiro a couple of years ago, but the Manchester United midfielder has certainly rediscovered it now after a banner season to bring the curtain down on his four years at Old Trafford. Fans have been desperate for the Brazilian to reverse his decision to depart as a free agent ever since it was announced in January, so critical has he been to the Red Devils' resurgence.

As well as his usual excellence in screening the defence, Casemiro has also emerged as a genuine threat in attacking areas, scoring a career-best nine goals, many of which came via Bruno Fernandes deliveries from set-pieces. United, then, face a real tough test in trying to replace the ex-Real Madrid man this summer.

Few transfers were more surprising last summer than Granit Xhaka's decision to leave Bayer Leverkusen and join newly-promoted Sunderland - with even Leverkusen boss Erik ten Hag caught out by the Switzerland international's switch to Wearside. The Black Cats knew they had pulled off a coup and immediately handed Xhaka the captain's armband. He has not let them down.

Xhaka has led from the front for Regis Le Bris' side, bringing top-level experience to a squad that was light on leaders following their promotion via the play-offs. His passing remains elite, while his tally of six assists is bettered by just eight players in the entire league. Off the ball, he ranks in the top 5% among midfielders for both blocked shots and clearances, highlighting the key role he has played at both ends of the pitch in earning Europa League qualification.

The outstanding right-back in this season's Premier League, Jurrien Timber continues to go from strength to strength for Arsenal with his all-action displays. The Ajax academy graduate remains as defensively sound as ever, while he increased his attacking output this time around, scoring three goals and providing a further five assists to finish joint-first among defenders for direct goal contributions.

Despite having an able deputy in Ben White, Timber was undoubtedly missed when his domestic season was brought to a premature end due to an injury picked up in March, with the Gunners going through an immediate dip in form before righting themselves just in time to claim the title; a title they wouldn't have won without Timber's contributions.

There aren't many Liverpool players who can end this season with their heads held high, but Dominik Szoboszlai is an exception after an outstanding individual campaign amid the mess on Merseyside. Whether in midfield or when pressed into duty at right-back, Szoboszlai was the Reds' leading light, as he both did the basics right while providing moments of magic to decide games.

Among his six goals were outrageous free-kicks against Arsenal and Manchester City, while Szoboszlai also provided seven assists having created the second-most chances (78) by anyone in the Premier League. Defensively, meanwhile, he led the way among attacking midfielders in a number of metrics, including interceptions (30), recoveries (187) and clearances (58).

The classiest of operators, William Saliba might not garner the same headlines at the heart of the Arsenal defence as he did when he first broke into the Gunners' line-up four years ago, but he remains one of the very best centre-backs anywhere in Europe.

Of the 30 games he started in the Premier League for the eventual champions, Saliba helped keep clean sheets in exactly half of them, with only his defensive partner, Gabriel Magalhaes, part of more shutouts among outfield players.

Joao Pedro was always going to struggle to maintain the electric start to life he made as a Chelsea player at the Club World Cup, but the ex-Brighton forward did continue to be a thorn in the side of Premier League defences during his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.

He ranked joint-fifth in the English top-flight for both goals (15) and combined goals and assists (20), while his excellent hold-up play and direct dribbling have adhered him to fans to the point that he was named Chelsea's Player of the Year. All that makes it even more puzzling as to why he wasn't named in Brazil's squad for the World Cup this summer.

That Nottingham Forest remain a Premier League club owes a lot to Morgan Gibbs-White, whose form particularly since the turn of the year has been absolutely sensational. He scored nine goals in his final 10 appearances of the campaign to drag Vitor Pereira's side to safety, finishing the campaign on 15 goals to rank joint-fifth in the Golden Boot race.

That is not to say that Gibbs-White wasn't a standout performer before his late-season explosion, with the decision to reject Tottenham's advances for their play-making midfielder having paid off handsomely. Expect another summer of speculation to follow, however, despite Thomas Tuchel's almost inexplicable decision to leave Gibbs-White out of England's World Cup squad.

The Premier League's Young Player of the Year, Nico O'Reilly has gone from being a little-known Manchester City academy player to a likely starter for England at the World Cup in the space of 18 months, after being trusted by Pep Guardiola like few other youngsters over the years.

The top-scoring defender in the league with five goals to go with his three assists, O'Reilly has grown into one of the most dependable and dynamic left-backs in the division, while he also showcased his versatility by thriving in midfield through the winter as a hint at where his eventual future may lie. For now, though, O'Reilly should be thrilled with his first full season as a City regular.

From the very first night of the season, when Antoine Semenyo ran Liverpool ragged at Anfield, he has been one of the outstanding players of the Premier League season, first in Bournemouth colours and then after he joined Manchester City in January following a bunfight for his signature in the wake of his £62.5m release clause being revealed.

Semenyo barely skipped a beat following his move to the Etihad despite the step up in class and pressure to perform. He netted five times in his first seven Premier League games for Guardiola's title-chasers, and while he was unable to maintain that rate of scoring through to the end of the campaign, he remained an ever-present in the City line-up to finish as the division's third-highest goal-scorer with 17. His sublime flick to win the FA Cup final wasn't bad, either.

Rayan Cherki arrived at Manchester City with question marks over his attitude and whether such a flamboyant individual could function as part of a Pep Guardiola team. And while he hasn't always been the first name on the teamsheet at the Etihad, Cherki has proven to be one of the most thrilling players to watch anywhere in the Premier League during his debut season in English football.

Only Bruno Fernandes provided more assists than the 12 that Cherki managed, and while his goal tally of four will need to be improved going forward, it's clear that the France international will be a key figure for Enzo Maresca following Guardiola's resignation. At just 22, his best years are still ahead of him.

Brentford were tipped for relegation by many experts ahead of the season, with the departures of prolific forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa cited as major reasons for those gloomy predictions. However, nobody had counted on Igor Thiago stepping up to the plate in such a remarkable fashion.

Originally signed to replace Ivan Toney in 2024, Thiago bounced back in sensational fashion after spending the majority of his first season in in the treatment room. He netted 22 times to finish second in the race for the Golden Boot and fire the Bees to another top-half finish as they narrowly missed out on European qualification, earning himself a place in the Brazil squad for the World Cup to boot.

The Premier League's Golden Glove winner for the third successive season, David Raya has grown into one of the best goalkeepers in Europe during his three years with the Gunners. The Spain international kept clean sheets in more than half of his top-flight outings this term to finish four clear of his closest challenger, Gigi Donnarumma, on 19 shutouts.

Amid a season of great saves, Raya's defining moment undoubtedly came in May, when his save to keep Mateus Fernandes from giving West Ham the lead eventually led to Arsenal earning a 1-0 victory that put them within touching distance of the title. Few played as important a role in the Gunners' success as their No.1.

Erling Haaland looked to be on for another record-breaking season in front of goal after he netted 19 times through the first half of the Premier League campaign, with defenders almost powerless to stop Manchester City's Terminator-like No.9. A mid-season slump prevented him from challenging his own single-season record, though this was still a successful campaign for the Norway international.

Goals in each of his final five league appearances ensured a third Golden Boot in four seasons for Haaland, with his final tally still an excellent 27, while he showcased improvements in his all-round game to provide eight assists, with only three players in the entire league able to create more goals for others.

If there was a player chosen to define Arsenal's title success in 2025-26, it may well be Gabriel Magalhaes. A no-nonsense defender who contributed to the most clean sheets among outfield players over the course of the season (17), his defining contributions arguably came at the other end of the pitch as he proved to be the Gunners' primary target from dead-ball situations.

While Gabriel only scored three goals, they all proved important, with his stoppage-time winner at Newcastle in September an early moment that helped swing the title race Arsenal's way. He also chipped in with four assists as Mikel Arteta used the Brazilian's aggression in both boxes to his team's advantage.

For many, Declan Rice has been the outstanding player in this season's Premier League, and if he can win one or both of the Champions League and World Cup in the coming weeks, then he could yet the end the year holding the Ballon d'Or. He would be a deserving winner, too, after again proving himself to be one of the outstanding midfield players on the planet for Arsenal's title winners.

Dominant whether helping to defend his own box or when looking to force something in attack, Rice's game is excellent all-round. While he would have hoped to have scored more than the four goals he managed in the Premier League, his set-piece delivery remains elite, while only three players created more chances than him (63) in the entire league. He is one of many deserving title winners in that Emirates dressing room.

Bruno Fernandes spent half the campaign being played out of position in a deeper-lying midfield role by Ruben Amorim and still managed to break the Premier League's single-season assist record - that was how good the Manchester United captain was in 2025-26. In creating 21 goals for others, Fernandes surpassed Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne in the division's history books, while he also chipped in with nine strikes of his own to help lift the Red Devils to a third-placed finish.

If you're not already convinced of Fernandes' dominance this season, then this statistic should win you over: Fernandes created 136 chances over the course of the campaign; Dominik Szoboszlai ranked second on the list with just 78. Opposition defences could not keep Fernandes out of the game, and more often than not he made them pay.

He is the Premier League's Player of the Year for 2025-26, and deservedly so.