The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has announced its candidates for its end-of-season awards.
The PFA is the body to which all professional footballers in England belong, with the players voting for the award winners.
The organisation confirmed the six nominees for men’s player of the year on Friday morning, with Arsenal players making up half the list.
Goalkeeper David Raya — who won the golden glove award with 19 clean sheets — centre-back Gabriel and midfielder Declan Rice have all been nominated after the north London side won their first league title in 22 years. No Arsenal player has won the award since Robin van Persie in 2012.
The Manchester City duo of Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki have also been nominated, with Haaland aiming to win the award for the second time. The Norwegian striker won the Premier League golden boot for the third time in the last four seasons after scoring 27 goals.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes completes the list, having already won the Football Writers’ Association men’s footballer of the year award. The 31-year-old broke the Premier League assist record on the final day of the campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion, recording his 21st assist of the season to surpass the previous mark of 20 set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
The six candidates for women’s player of the year have also been confirmed, headlined by Manchester City’s golden boot-winning (21 goals) striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw. The 29-year-old could become the third two-time winner of the award after Lucy Bronze and Fran Kirby.
Shaw’s team-mate Yui Hasegawa is also nominated, with the Japan captain named in the PFA team of the year in all of the three previous seasons.
Arsenal and England forward Alessia Russo, who finished second on the scoring charts with 13 goals, is up for the award, as is Aston Villa’s Kirsty Hanson, who finished just behind Russo with 12 goals.
Chelsea star Lauren James and Manchester United’s Jess Park are also on the list, meaning that three English players have been nominated. England have had seven winners of the award since it was first introduced in 2013.
Cherki has also been nominated in the men’s young player of the year category, meaning that he could become only the player to win both awards in the same season after Andy Gray (1977) and Gareth Bale (2013). The 22-year-old France international recorded four goals and 12 assists in his first season in English football.
Arsenal’s 16-year-old midfielder Max Dowman is up for the award, despite only logging just over 150 minutes across six league appearances and making one start.
Cherki’s City team-mate Nico O’Reilly has been nominated after a breakthrough season that saw him become the club’s starting left-back and secure a place in England’s 2026 World Cup squad.
Also among the candidates are Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha and Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi, with the latter scoring 13 goals in his debut Premier League season.
In the women’s category, Olivia Smith has been nominated after producing 10 goals in 38 games in all competitions, following her move from Liverpool to Arsenal last summer that saw her become the first player in the women’s game to move for £1million ($1.3m).
The Chelsea pair of Veerle Buurman and Alyssa Thompson are among the candidates, as are London City Lionesses forward Freya Godfrey, Tottenham Hotspur defender Toko Koga and City midfielder Laura Blindkilde Brown.
The winners of each award will be announced at the PFA Awards Ceremony in Manchester on August 25. All awards are voted for by PFA members, meaning that nominees and winners are selected by their peers.
Full list of PFA Award nominees
Men’s player of the year
- Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Gabriel (Arsenal)
- David Raya (Arsenal)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Women’s player of the year
- Kirsty Hanson (Aston Villa)
- Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
- Lauren James (Chelsea
- Jess Park (Manchester United)
- Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
- Bunny Shaw (Manchester City)
Men’s young player of the year
- Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
- Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)
- Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)
- Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool)
- Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)
Women’s young player of the year
- Laura Blindkilde Brown (Manchester City)
- Veerle Buurman (Chelsea)
- Freya Godfrey (London City Lionesses)
- Toko Koga (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Olivia Smith (Arsenal)
- Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea)