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Some Premier League seasons have boasted a player so strong that their crowning as the best player of the campaign was undeniable: Mohamed Salah last season, Erling Haaland in his debut campaign, and Kevin De Bruyne in 2021-22 immediately come to mind.
Phil Foden's 2023-24 award was a bit less clear-cut, as was Ruben Dias' honor in 2020-21, but the debate around this season's top performer has a great number of contenders.
MORE — Tyler Adams speaks with Pro Soccer Talk
It could be down to the fact that neither Arsenal nor Man City have had one elite attacker lighting the league on fire for the duration of the season, or that neither side have ran away from the field and make the title a fait accompli.
Or it could simply be that the best player this Premier League season is not going to be on a title-winning team.
So who are the contenders for the 2025-26 Premier League Player of the Season? And who should win it?
Long shots and/or honorable mentions
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been the best backstop in the division and, should the Toffees reach Europe, will be the No. 1 reason they'll return to continental competition. There's been some buzz about Arsenal keeper David Raya but awarding a player who's been asked to make 50 saves over 31 appearances seems bonkers given that his save percentage is eighth in the division and he's actually conceded more goals than his expected goals on target by 0.4 (Pickford, by comparison, leads the division with six more goals prevented than xGOT).
Marc Guehi was outstanding for Crystal Palace before making a move to title contenders City, and Erling Haaland's going to win the Golden Boot but seems destined to be haunted by the fact that he did most of his scoring in the first few months of the season. Maybe a resurgent finish to the campaign will change that? Some would cite Bernardo Silva as a possible finalist in his final season at City, too. Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai have been Liverpool's most consistent performers but it's difficult to imagine enough voters going for a singular Red without splitting the vote.
The case for Antoine Semenyo
If the season began today, it's a safe bet that Man City — not Arsenal — would be the favorite to claim the division over 38 matches. Part of that is Guehi's January arrival at City but Semenyo joining their right flank has made City the league's most prolific attack. Yes, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, and Haaland give Semenyo more room to operate, but the Ghanaian probably should've been in the discussion for his work over 20 games with Bournemouth. He scored 10 times with three assists and almost single-handedly authored wins over Fulham, Brighton, and Spurs.
The case for Gabriel Magalhaes
This feels like the year Gabriel moved above William Saliba in the "Arsenal's best center back" discussion. He's certainly a louder personality, but what do the numbers say about the Brazilian? Since the start of last season, Arsenal have played 16 games without Gabriel and 53 without him. The Gunners are 33W-15D-5L when he plays and 8W-6D-2L when he does not (They are also 2-0-0 in a pair of games he played less than 20 minutes, in the interest of full disclosure). That comes out to 2.15 points per game when he plays and 1.87 when he's out of the 18. He's also won a league-best 75.9% of his ground duels, and is a huge part of their gate-crashing corner kick success and someone from Arsenal would be the favorite to be crowned should they be in the title's driver seat during the voting window.
The case for Bruno Fernandes
Where would Manchester United be without Bruno Fernandes? The captain has been the side's best player even when playing in a deeper-lying role — some would say out-of-position — for about half of the season under Ruben Amorim. He's played 33 successful through balls, 11 more than anyone else, in arguably renewing a lost art form. His 16 assists are double the closest competitor (Rayan Cherki) and his 101 created chances are an absurd 43 more than second-place (three-way tie with Declan Rice, Anton Stach, and Dominik Szoboszlai). Man Utd went 1W-2D in the three games he missed despite the competition including Wolves and Leeds. And here's a fun fact: Fernandes has a goal or an assist in 17 of his 28 appearances appearances. United is 3W-3D-5L when he doesn't get on the score sheet. They're 11W-5D-1L when he has a goal contribution.
The case for Declan Rice
Again, someone from Arsenal is going to get a lot of love in the Player of the Season race and Rice has some impressive numbers. Rice is second in the Premier League in ball-carrying distance, fourth in progressive carries, sixth in possessions won, sixth in final third-passes completed (and taken), and tied for second in created chances. In a World Cup year, England may also be prominent in the mind of voters and Rice certainly has impressed for Thomas Tuchel.
Predicting the Premier League Player of the Season award winner
Semenyo's case is strong but it seems unlikely that his case with be loud and clear to voters. That's probably quite unfair. Like Haaland, would a starring role in a red-hot City run to end April change that.
Will Rice and Magalhaes take too many votes away from the other? Will Arsenal's almost wire-to-wire title run be enough to propel either ahead of the field despite the other player snaring recognition?
It does feel like Bruno Fernandes' biggest impediment is his team, which happens to be one of the biggest names in the game and in the throes of a renaissance in which he is the undoubted key piece. He could also set a new PL assist record and United will be home for three of their four fixtures in the run-up to the final days of voting.
