The race for the EA SPORTS Player of the Season award has narrowed to eight players, with fans given until 12:00 BST on Monday 18 May to choose their favourite. The public vote will then be combined with the verdict of a panel of football experts to decide who wins the 2025/26 prize.
Bruno Fernandes has put himself firmly in the frame after producing eight goals and 19 assists in 33 Premier League matches, leaving him on the verge of matching the competition’s all-time single-season assists mark of 20. That record is held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, and Fernandes will feel he has done enough to stay in the conversation even before the experts weigh in.
He is one of eight nominees for the award, alongside Gabriel, David Raya, Declan Rice, Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo, Igor Thiago and Morgan Gibbs-White. The list reflects a season in which Arsenal, Manchester City, Brentford, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest all supplied contenders for the league’s top individual honour.
Gabriel’s case is built on control as much as output. The Arsenal defender made 30 Premier League appearances, scored three goals and added four assists, while his club conceded a competition-low 26 goals in total this season. That defensive record has given Arsenal a strong platform, and it also gives Gabriel a profile that stands out in a shortlist usually dominated by attacking numbers.
Raya has also pushed his name into the discussion from the back. The Arsenal goalkeeper made 36 Premier League appearances and kept 18 clean sheets, enough to secure the Coca-Cola Golden Glove award for a third successive season. In a field packed with goals and assists, his consistency has offered a different kind of argument for recognition.
At the other end of the pitch, Haaland has again delivered the kind of numbers that make him impossible to ignore. He scored 26 goals and added eight assists in 34 Premier League matches, became a Premier League scoring centurion in 111 matches and was on the cusp of winning his third Coca-Cola Golden Boot award in four seasons. Those figures keep him in the same conversation every year because they force the award debate back to a simple question: how much more can a striker do?
Gibbs-White has also earned his place after a season that combined volume and finish. He made 35 Premier League appearances, scored 13 goals and supplied four assists, and in April he won his first EA SPORTS Player of the Month award. Semenyo, Thiago and Rice complete the shortlist, giving the vote a spread of attacking flair, midfield control and goalkeeping reliability that matches the season itself.
The final result will not belong to the fans alone, and that is where the contest gets complicated. Public voting can reward headline numbers, but the expert panel will be judging value, influence and consistency across the campaign. That split means the winner may not be the player with the loudest statistical case, only the one who convinces both sides of the process.
For now, the deadline is the only fixed point: 12:00 BST on Monday 18 May. After that, the votes are counted, the panel gets its say and one player will emerge as the EA SPORTS Player of the Season for 2025/26.
