Bruno Fernandes and Khadija Shaw win PFA Player of the Year awards for 2025-26

Top individual honours

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City forward Khadija Shaw won the main individual trophies at the Professional Footballers' Association awards on Tuesday. Fernandes secured the men's Player of the Year prize after providing 21 assists during the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, surpassing the previous record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. The 31-year-old midfielder also scored nine goals as United recovered from a difficult start under Ruben Amorim to finish third under interim manager Michael Carrick. Fernandes is the first United player to win the award since Wayne Rooney in 2010, and the second Portuguese recipient following Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007 and 2008. Shaw earned the women's Player of the Year award for the second time in three seasons after guiding Manchester City to their first Women's Super League title in a decade. The Jamaica captain won her third consecutive golden boot, scoring between 19 and 21 goals depending on official league tallies.

They are the ones you go on the pitch against and it's probably not easy to vote for someone you play against, so it is a very good moment.

Young player categories

Manchester City left back Nico O'Reilly received the Men's Young Player of the Year award following a breakout season. The 21-year-old England international made 53 appearances across all competitions and scored nine goals, adding the union trophy to his Premier League Young Player of the Season accolade. O'Reilly topped a six-player shortlist that included City teammate Rayan Cherki, Arsenal teenager Max Dowman, Bournemouth attacker Junior Kroupi, Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, and Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha. In the women's category, 22-year-old Arsenal forward Olivia Smith won the Young Player of the Year honour for the second consecutive year. The Canada international scored 10 goals in all competitions after moving from Liverpool for a £1 million transfer fee. Smith became the second player to win the women's young player prize multiple times, following England international Lauren Hemp.

Premier League Team of the Year

Premier League champions Arsenal provided five players to the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, the largest representation of any club. Goalkeeper David Raya joined defenders Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, and Jurrien Timber alongside Manchester City defender O'Reilly in the back line. Declan Rice represented Arsenal in midfield, joined by Fernandes and City playmaker Cherki. In attack, City striker Erling Haaland featured alongside teammate Antoine Semenyo, who moved from Bournemouth in January, and Brentford forward Igor Thiago, who scored 22 league goals.

WSL lineup and merit awards

The Women's Super League Team of the Year featured three players each from Arsenal, Chelsea, and title winners Manchester City. Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was selected behind a defensive line consisting of teammate Ellie Carpenter, Tottenham defender Toko Koga, City full-back Kerstin Casparij, and Arsenal defender Emily Fox. City midfielder Yui Hasegawa lined up in the center alongside Arsenal playmaker Mariona Caldentey and Manchester United midfielder Jessica Park. Shaw led the forward line with Arsenal striker Alessia Russo and Chelsea winger Lauren James. Outside the top tier, Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney won Championship Player of the Year, Dom Ballard received the League One prize, and Aaron Drinan collected the League Two honour. The PFA presented Special Merit awards to Sir Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney.