The Athletic’s end-of-season awards, 2025-26:…

Choosing the best and brightest from a quite extraordinary season of domestic European football is no small task.

In England, Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in over two decades and also booked themselves a Champions League final showdown with Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich set fresh records in the Bundesliga, Barcelona humbled their great rivals Real Madrid to win La Liga and Inter proved a cut above the rest in Serie A.

Not scared of the task at hand, The Athletic’s team of experts have been voting in our annual end-of-season awards and these are our end-of-season award winners.

We have done the same for women’s football — find out about them here.

Now, without any further ado, allow us to present are the players and managers we are recognising for their achievements this season in men’s football.

Premier League Player of the Season: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

Bruno Fernandes will not finish this season as a title-winner. He’ll not even be a runner-up. But in a Premier League season defined by set-piece choreography, at a point in the game’s history when systems smother individual brilliance, his unique, difference-making genius has set him apart from his peers.

Creatively, he has operated in a different stratosphere. Fernandes has fashioned 132 chances this season, almost twice the number of anyone else. Plenty of those were from set pieces, granted, but his 95 from open play is still streets ahead of the next most.

That chance-creation underpinned Fernandes’ league-leading 20 assists, equalling the Premier League record in a single campaign set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. As Henry himself said in March, Fernandes does not play football. “He thinks football”.

Many now complain that the Premier League is suffering from a poverty of imagination. Maybe that’s because it’s all concentrated in one player: Fernandes, this season’s best.

Mark Critchley

Premier League Young Player of the Season: Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)

He did not start the first three league games of the season but quickly made himself a feature of the first team, to the extent that, by now, he is absolutely considered their first-choice left-back. That is quite some feat considering he came through the academy as an attacking midfielder.

Those forward-thinking talents are obvious when he joins City’s attacks, and are most obviously demonstrated by those headers he gets when arriving into the six-yard box at just the right time, as he did twice in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola has used him in the midfield, too, and he looked right at home earlier in the year playing alongside Bernardo Silva and Rodri. In truth, he looks right at home wherever he plays in this refreshed, youthful City team, but he has had to earn his spot and he has done so brilliantly.

This award was voted for by The Athletic’s subscribers.

Sam Lee

Premier League Manager of the Season: Regis Le Bris (Sunderland)

Newly-promoted teams are not supposed to reach the heights that Sunderland have hit this season. They head into the final day with 51 points on the board and holding a very real chance of securing either seventh or eighth position, and a place in Europe next year.

Regis Le Bris has been the man to make it all possible: a diligent, tactically-astute figurehead who has lost the same number of Premier League games (12) as Liverpool’s Arne Slot this season.

Others have won plenty more but Le Bris has made Sunderland a disciplined, uncompromising unit during his own Premier League debut. Fulham, of all teams, have ended up as the only opponent Sunderland have failed to take at least a point from.

And all this after clambering up through the Championship play-offs last season. The understated Le Bris has transformed Sunderland’s outlook inside his two years at the Stadium of Light.

Phil Buckingham

Premier League Team of the Season

David Raya won the Golden Glove and is rightly the goalkeeper of the season. You only need to watch his highlights of important saves for Arsenal this term to realise he is not just the best in the league but perhaps the world.

Despite recent injury struggles, Jurrien Timber has been chosen at right-back for his impactful performances in a memorable Arsenal campaign. He is in familiar company with Gabriel, the only player to make our team of the season last year and this, and William Saliba. They have again formed a formidable centre-back partnership that this year, was unmatched.

O’Reilly has been around for longer than you think but this season, the 21-year-old came of age for Manchester City, driving them back on track whenever they veered off course.

Meanwhile, Declan Rice’s engine is something else. He is a player found all over the pitch, either putting out fires or starting them. Rayan Cherki, a man of mystical touches, also makes it in. This was his first season in the Premier League and he brought something completely new to it.

Manchester United’s Fernandes has had a record season with his 20 assists. He is the first name on this team sheet for obvious reasons.

Igor Thiago has had an incredible season for Brentford, scoring 22 times in the Premier League so far and was second on the top scorer list behind Erling Haaland, who naturally makes it in at a canter. for his 27 goals and eight assists.

And finally, to the FA Cup match-winner Antoine Semenyo. Formerly of Bournemouth, he did not stutter when moving to Manchester but adjusted straight away and added a new dimension to Guardiola’s team, which is not always an easy task.

Caomihe O’Neill

Premier League Goal of the Season: Harry Wilson (Fulham) vs Crystal Palace

Lamine Yamal, Luka Modric, Ricardo Quaresma — and this season, the list of trivela legends gained a new, unlikely name.

But Harry Wilson’s goal against Crystal Palace in December was more than just a glorious swing with the outside of his left boot. The build-up with Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez is worth countless replays itself, a display of mesmeric one-touch passing.

It is a beautiful team move but make no mistake, this is Wilson’s goal: his flick to Jimenez, his spin away, his curling finish. Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix doesn’t know which way to turn, Iwobi ends up with his hands on his head, Sander Berge simply stands and applauds. They weren’t the only ones.

The context will become a mere footnote — Marc Guehi’s late winner saw to that. Some goals are admired for their power, others are remembered for their importance, and then there are some that are just too aesthetically beautiful to ignore.

Justin Guthrie

Premier League Signing of the Season: Senne Lammens (Manchester United)

Usually, deadline-day buys represent panic and overpaying. But Manchester United’s purchase of Senne Lammens in the final 24 hours of last summer’s window was the result of methodical planning and months of work executed at the last moment due to circumstances.

Andre Onana’s form and fitness in pre-season meant United eventually resolved to make a goalkeeper signing and rather than go for Emi Martinez, as was Ruben Amorim’s preference, recruitment staff showed courage to select Lammens, who was the selection of Tony Coton, the club’s chief goalkeeping scout.

Coton, a former goalkeeper for United and Manchester City, had watched Lammens several times in his only full campaign of senior football for Antwerp, in Belgium’s top flight, and pressed director of football Jason Wilcox to make the move. Backed by director of recruitment Christopher Vivell, United took the plunge on the 23-year-old for a fee of €21million plus €4m in add-ons.

That now looks to be a bargain, with Lammens exuding a calmness in goal that has been absent for the last few seasons for United. Away from the pitch, he comes in on his days off, stays late at Carrington, often talking to Coton, and reads books on other sports to increase his knowledge.

He is making saves of real consequence and appears to have solved a problem for the team for years to come.

This award was voted for by members of The Athletic’s Premier League WhatsApp channel. You can find out more here.

Laurie Whitwell

Alternative Premier League Team of the Season

In goal, Bart Verbruggen was statistically the best shot-stopper in the Premier League this year, saving Brighton around 6.3 goals based on the quality of shots he faced. The Dutchman brings more than just crucial saves to this team, increasingly comfortable and incisive with the ball at his feet.

Our two centre-backs practically pick themselves; Marcos Senesi combines combative defending with expansive distribution, while no player in the Premier League gets close to Jan Paul van Hecke’s 448 line-breaking passes from defence. El Hadji Malick Diouf has impressed with his wicked left-footed deliveries into the box, and while it might feel odd to include a Manchester City player in an overlooked XI, Matheus Nunes deserves his flowers for handling his transition to right-back and adding energy and dynamism to Pep Guardiola’s right-hand side.

Midfield is where things get tricky. Elliot Anderson has to be in, the player with the most defensive recoveries across Europe’s top-five leagues this season. Team-mate Morgan Gibbs-White also merits a place, having scored 14 goals and provided four assists from his all-action midfield role. That leaves one more spot, and while the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Alex Scott and Matheus Fernandes have all been big hits for their clubs, none have had quite the impact as Anton Stach. Boundless energy, defensive appetite, and an eye for a spectacular goal, his tireless midfield performances have gone a long way to keeping Leeds United up.

In attack, Harry Wilson has been a joy to watch from his wider role, always dangerous when he can cut inside and unleash a strike on his left foot. Jarrod Bowen is not strictly a left winger, but his industry and eye for goal allow him to play all across the front, while Joao Pedro is the best alternative behind Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago, with an impressive 20 goal contributions in his debut Chelsea campaign.

Thom Harris

European Men’s Player of the Season: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

You would be fully justified in giving Harry Kane all the awards you’ve got based purely on numbers. Because they are firmly in the cartoon category: 58 goals in 50 games this season, bettering his two previous campaigns in Munich, in both of which he got over 40. Even for those of us slightly desensitised by the goals tallies of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at their peaks, it’s still astonishing.

You could also hand out those awards by forgetting the numbers and just watching him play. Kane somehow manages to be a masterful playmaker and deadly striker at the same time, dropping deep to dictate the tempo of a game or spray a 50-yard pass, before sauntering into the box to top up that goal tally.

Kane will turn 33 in the summer but seems to be improving with age: perhaps one day he will win an individual honour even more prestigious than The Athletic’s player of the season award.

Nick Miller

European Men’s Young Player of the Season: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

It’s a bit odd to talk about Lamine Yamal as the best young player of the season. He is the star of one of the biggest clubs in the world in Barcelona. Everybody knows his name and he has been all the rage for two years already. He is even one of the big names to follow in the next World Cup.

But then, we remember that he is still 18.

If you’ve been living under a rock, here are a few facts about Yamal. He made his debut for Barcelona’s first team on April 29, 2023, at just 15 years old. A year later, he went to the Euros, which Spain won, playing a key role, and by then he was already a mass phenomenon. At 17, he became a key player in the team whilst still a minor and having just turned 18 last July, he finished second in the Ballon d’Or awards. And he was barely old enough to drive.

He has scored 24 goals this season and provided 18 assists. He has carried the team on his shoulders in Barca’s toughest matches. Those figures are simply mind-boggling for an 18-year-old player. If this doesn’t make him deserve to be named European Young Player of the Season, then I don’t know what does.

Laia Cervello Herrero

European Men’s Manager of the Season: Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)

There is a temptation, when assessing the quality of a Bayern Munich manager who has won the Bundesliga, to say: so what? They win it every year, so why should I be impressed?

With Vincent Kompany though, there is more scope to admire his work. He was appointed after Bayern had failed to win the title for the first time in 11 years and things hadn’t exactly been tip-top in the seasons before that, the Bavarian giants stumbling over the line.

Kompany, though, has restored them to their lofty perch, winning the title by 13 points last season and this term, with their biggest points total since the Guardiola days. And he’s done so playing thrilling football, the whirling front three of Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Diaz helping them to obliterate the record for goals in a single Bundesliga season, finishing on 122.

The widespread scepticism about his appointment in 2024, fresh from being relegated with Burnley, was understandable. He has proved both his point and his quality, with some gusto.

Nick Miller

European Men’s Team of the Season

Three teams were at the forefront of our writers’ minds this season, and with Arsenal’s watertight defensive record, Paris Saint-Germain’s swashbuckling possession football and Bayern Munich’s lethal attack, that does not come as a surprise.

Gabriel and Raya are the star shot-stoppers and blockers at the back, while PSG’s full-back duo of Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes left an impression with their scampering runs up the pitch. Vitinha and Joao Neves are just too fleet-footed and dynamic to separate in midfield, while Federico Valverde adds unparalleled forward drive and energy alongside them.

Up front, Kane leads the way across Europe with his 36 league goals, while Olise sits joint top of the creative charts with 19 assists. Yamal takes the final spot, whose elusive dribbling and eye for an incisive pass helped Barcelona to retain their La Liga crown.

Thom Harris

La Liga Player of the Season: Joan Garcia (Barcelona)

Barca coach Hansi Flick’s risky pressing tactics, with the defensive line around halfway, has again been key to their La Liga title success.

It also means lots of difficult saves to make for their goalkeepers, who have faced the highest non-penalty xG per shot in Europe’s top five leagues (0.13xG per shot) this season.

Even still, Joan Garcia’s 79.4 per cent save rate in La Liga is the highest of any keeper across those top five divisions. Meanwhile, his 0.7 goals conceded per 90 is the fewest of any keeper in Spain, England, France, Italy or Germany.

Signing Garcia from local rivals Espanyol last summer was not easy, given Barca’s salary-limit issues and the trouble caused with previous No 1 Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

But it has worked out tremendously well, with Garcia clearly the most important individual player in Barca’s title victory.

Dermot Corrigan

La Liga Team of the Season

Joan Garcia in goal goes without saying. Eric Garcia has been Barca’s most reliable defender, while playing all across defence and midfield.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Jon Martin was rock-solid as Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey. Florian Lejeune, 34, is a tremendous leader for Conference League finalists Rayo, while ex-Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has brought experience and technical quality in Celta’s European bid.

All-action Luis Milla of Getafe has more La Liga assists (nine) than anyone not playing for Madrid or Barca. Pablo Fornals steered the midfield as Betis closed in on a Champions League spot. Yamal’s rapid development continued with 16 goals and 11 assists in 28 La Liga games while Alberto Moleiro’s fantastic first half of the season set Villarreal up for third.

Kylian Mbappe will win the Pichichi top-scorer prize amid all the chaos at Real Madrid while Verdat Muriqi, nicknamed the pirate, has plundered 22 goals in a struggling Mallorca side.

Dermot Corrigan

Serie A Player of the Season: Federico Dimarco (Inter)

Devastated by his performance in last season’s Champions League final, Federico Dimarco came back stronger.

He broke the record for assists in Serie A with 18, surpassing the benchmark established by Papu Gomez back when Atalanta were scoring more than 100 goals a season at the turn of the decade. A hat-trick of them came in Inter’s 5-0 win over Sassuolo in February. The last player to do that in his role in Serie A was Massimo Oddo 20 years ago.

Dimarco’s velvet first touch upon running in behind was a constant this season, as were his exquisite set-piece deliveries in Hakan Calhanoglu’s injury-enforced absence. A bit like Trent Alexander-Arnold at his Liverpool peak, Dimarco showed playmaking can also come from wing-back or full-back.

James Horncastle

Serie A Team of the Season

In a contract year, Mike Maignan was back to his best. Marco Carnesecchi deserves a mention too, as does Jean Butez — no goalkeeper in Italy is as good with their feet as Como’s Belgian.

In defence, Mario Gila was impeccable against Napoli in April and a big reason why Lazio reached the Coppa Italia final. Marco Palestra is my young player of the year, more so than Francesco Pio Esposito, who has better team-mates around him.

Manuel Locatelli had his best season at Juventus since his final year at Sassuolo under Roberto De Zerbi. Next to him, Calhanoglu was decisive in doses for Inter. Shoutouts to Adrien Rabiot and Nicolo Zaniolo.

Up front, Donyell Malen joined Roma in January. His form raises the question: what if he’d been at the club from the start of the season? Kenan Yildiz is, along with Nico Paz, one of the best players to watch in the league.

James Horncastle

Bundesliga Player of the Season: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

You could certainly make the argument that Michael Olise deserves this award and he would be a worthy winner. Olise has been outstanding, entertaining and by every measure a star turn.

But it’s Kane’s award by the narrowest of margins, mainly because he’s involved in so much of what Bayern Munich do — with the ball, without it, in the opposition’s half and their own.

This is an historically potent Bayern who have scored (far) more goals than any team in Bundesliga history and it would be churlish to look beyond the player most important to making that work.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Bundesliga Team of the Season

Nobody is unluckier to be omitted than Yan Diomande, who has been absolutely outstanding for RB Leipzig in his first season, but how can you leave out Olise, Diaz or Kane? They are statistically the best attack in Bundesliga history.

Gregor Kobel is recognised for his fine return to form at Dortmund. Ahead of him, Luka Vuskovic was the single biggest factor behind Hamburg’s survival, while Wouter Burger was certainly among the signings of the season at Hoffenheim. Christoph Baumgartner had the season of his career for RB Leipzig, while Jeff Chabot and Angelo Stiller were the strength within a resurgent Stuttgart. In a league without Kane, Deniz Undav would be in this side, too.

Vladimir Coufal is another emblem of Hoffenheim’s startling turnaround around Christian Ilzer while, on the other flank, Konrad Laimer’s completed his transition from utility player to one of the best inverted full-backs in Europe

Seb Stafford-Bloor