31/05/2026

theSun on Sunday MAY 31, 2026

SPORTS 13

Premier League awards … including best player, moment, signing and team of the season

ARSENAL are Premier League champions and kick-started the celebrations at Selhurst Park after victory over Crystal Palace to conclude the season. At the other end of the table, Tottenham avoided relegation, but West Ham dropped down to the Championship with Burnley and Wolves. Man City, Man United, Aston Villa and Liverpool qualified for next season’s Champions League, while Bournemouth and Sunderland reached the Europa League, and Brighton will play in next season’s Conference League. Here are the Independent Sport’s awards from the 2025/26 season: PLAYER OF THE SEASON Miguel Delaney: Declan Rice - I have also gone back and forth on David Raya and Bruno Fernandes a few times but, now that the title is secured, I’d pick Rice for pushing through under immense pressure. Richard Jolly: Rice - I actually voted for Bernardo Silva for Footballer of the Year but it was when it looked like Manchester City could do the treble. So I will switch to Rice, who has been Arsenal’s outstanding individual. Lawrence Ostlere: Fernandes - His ability to create chances was a world apart from every other player in the League and made a huge contribution off the ball too (he completed the same number of tackles as Rice). Kieran Jackson: Rice - Those with short memories quickly forget how talismanic he was for Arsenal as they built a top-of the-table lead in the first half of the season which, ultimately, proved insurmountable. Faded towards the end of the season, sure, but has been back to his monstrous self in the past few weeks. A proper leader. Will Castle: Fernandes - You can easily give this to Rice and I’d have no complaints, but for me, Fernandes’ ability to remain a constant light for Manchester United even through the dark final days of Ruben Amorim makes him the League’s individual best this term. He was integral to their resurgence under Michael Carrick and his title of all-time assist king makes his season one for the books. MANAGER OF THE SEASON MD: Mikel Arteta - I could easily have Keith Andrews, Andoni Iraola or Unai Emery, but I think the scale of Arsenal’s long-term overperformance is being overlooked. And Arteta did show true management – especially dispelling doubts – at key moments. RJ: Emery - At the start of the season, Aston Villa looked like they could go into decline. They end the campaign having qualified for the Champions League twice and won their first trophy in 30 years, and a first in Europe in 44 years. LO: Regis Le Bris - Sunderland’s newly compiled team quickly gelled and racked up points via Le Bris’s gameplan built on defensive solidity. To finish in the top half of the Premier League is a phenomenal achievement, but qualifying for the Europa League, and delivering European football to the Black Cats for the first time in more than 50 years is incredible. KJ: Andrews - The Irishman has made a mockery of the “most likely to be sacked” tag at the start of the season, steering Brentford so close to Europe. As the antics at Arsenal will attest to, perhaps the “set piece coach” really is the way forward. WC: Arteta - You just can’t give it to anyone else, can you? Yes, Arsenal aren’t BY MIGUEL DELANEY, RICHARD JOLLY, LAWRENCE OSTLERE, KIERAN JACKSON & WILL CASTLE

Arsenal’s Declan Rice celebrates with the Premier League trophy after the Gunners clinched the title on May 24. – REUTERSPIC

relegation race – cannot be denied. GAME OF THE SEASON

the most enjoyable team to watch, hence Arteta-ball regularly being the subject of resentment. But his philosophy has been justified; Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years. It’s not come without its real tests of fortitude, either – Manchester City’s fightback threatened to bring about a four-peat of second-place finishes. Arteta managed to drag his side out of the darkness. MOMENT OF THE SEASON MD: Very far from the best football moment, but the theatre around Chris Kavanagh’s VAR review of Callum Wilson’s goal was among the most exquisite tension I’ve experienced in the Premier League, and decided so much. There’s also a symbolism in how the fact it was a VAR review of a set-piece also summed up so much. Not necessarily for good. RJ: It may be off the field, albeit about 30 yards from it – Mohamed Salah’s remarkable interview at Leeds. It feels like quite a bit of the drama has come off the field, whether Ruben Amorim’s press conference at Elland Road or Pep Guardiola standing down. LO: Declan Rice’s “It’s not over” at full time in Arsenal’s defeat by Manchester City. He was mocked for showing supposed weakness, but in truth it was a glimpse of a defiant mentality that proved so integral to Arsenal’s season. That phrase will be repeated for years to come. KJ: Max Dowman’s goal against Everton. The 16-year-old came on, conjured a key assist late on, before gliding sumptuously through desperate defenders to score into an empty net, becoming the Premier League’s youngest ever goalscorer in a statement victory for Arsenal, a talent beyond his years. Of course, understandable given his age, but it’s felt like a shame we’ve barely seen him since. WC: Stockley Park (the Premier League VAR Hub) shenanigans take the cake on this one; you truly hate to see it. But the magnitude and significance of this sole moment in the title race – and the

the League if not for City’s January business, signing the two most sought after players in the League. Semenyo was on fire at Bournemouth and only got hotter under Pep Guardiola. SURPRISE OF THE SEASON MD: Brentford - To think there was expectation Keith Andrews could be sacked in a nosedive. RJ: Sunderland and Leeds - How well (two of) the promoted teams have done. It has been a welcome surprise, too, to see Sunderland and Leeds excel. It wasn’t healthy if the same three teams that came up went down. But with Sunderland and Leeds doing well, it rather caught out Wolves, West Ham and Tottenham. LO: VAR - I genuinely thought this would be the season when VAR clicked and began to become the smooth background operation it was meant to be. Somehow, it got worse. KJ: Tottenham - Thomas Frank was highly rated and seemed a shrewd pick in the early weeks. How rapidly did that optimism plummet? Their battle against relegation was the story of the campaign. WC: Brentford - The Bees lost their manager, captain and two best attackers last summer. Predicting the drop for them was hardly a hot take. Shows how much we know. TEAM OF THE SEASON MD: Raya; Timber, Senesi, Gabriel, O’Reilly; Rice, Scott; Semenyo, Fernandes, Rogers, Thiago. RJ: Raya; Timber, Lacroix, Gabriel, O’Reilly; Silva, Rice; Szoboszlai, Fernandes, Doku; Thiago. LO: Lammens; Timber, Senesi, Gabriel, Kadioglu; Rice, Garner; Wilson, Fernandes, Semenyo; Haaland. KJ: Raya; Timber, Guehi, Gabriel, O’Reilly; Rice, Xhaka, Fernandes; Semenyo, Rogers, Thiago. WC: Raya; Timber, Guehi, Gabriel, O’Reilly; Rice, Fernandes, Rogers; Semenyo, Thiago, Kroupi.

MD: Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 3 - It feels like it was almost from a different campaign, not least in how it touched football levels that the season didn’t always reach. RJ: Newcastle 2 Liverpool 3 - Astonishing drama, plenty of plotlines and a 100th-minute winner from a 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha. LO: Manchester United 2 Manchester City 0 - Michael Carrick’s first game in charge was a masterclass, and it sparked a transformation of the team’s season. KJ: Liverpool 1 Manchester City 2 - One stunning free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai and a City fightback which extended the title race by two months. Farcical VAR scenes at the end were, perhaps, a sign of things to come. WC: Fulham 4 Manchester City 5 - Do not assume anything as given in this League. This had the look of a classic City rout when they went 3-0 up before half time, then 5-1 by 53 minutes. By 77 minutes, Fulham had reduced their deficit by three and looked on a collision course for one of the greatest comebacks the League has ever seen. Alas, it didn’t happen, but those minutes of edge-of your-seat action were unmatched. SIGNING OF THE SEASON MD: Senne Lammens - A personification of Manchester United’s recently-found stability. RJ: Dominic Calvert-Lewin - Plenty of clubs spent a fortune on strikers last summer. Leeds got a free transfer who kept them up. LO: Calvert-Lewin - A free signing who scored the goals (15) that kept Leeds in the Premier League. KJ: Granit Xhaka - The Swiss midfielder, signed for £13 million (RM67m), was quickly named captain by Regis Le Bris and has been the key cog in Sunderland’s remarkable season. At 33, he’s still got it. WC: Antoine Semenyo - Who knows how much earlier Arsenal would’ve won

The Independent