Who has been the best player of the 2025/26 Premier League season thus far? After 30 Matchdays played, it’s time to rank the top five, accounting for players at all positions.
5. Newcastle CM Bruno Guimaraes
Antoine Semenyo was fabulous for Bournemouth and is scoring goals for Manchester City, but, in all honesty, Newcastle’s metronome Bruno Guimaraes has been even more impressive.
Even though he is an all arounder with 2.2 tackles per game and 2.3 fouls drawn per match, the workhorse Brazilian has still been exceptional creatively with four assists and 1.7 key passes per game while scoring nine goals. There is nothing this man cannot do for Newcastle.
4. Arsenal CB Gabriel Magalhaes
By far the best center back in a league filled with great center backs, including quite a few on his own team, Gabriel Magalhaes is leading the charge for the Gunners with goals, assists, world class play on the ball, and obviously phenomenal defensive work.
You simply cannot get past the Brazilian superstar. He is a brick wall who puts his heart on the line for the Gunners, and you can just tell how brilliant he is by how much opposing fan bases hate his guts.
3. Arsenal CM Declan Rice
The Ballon d’Or shouts alongside Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal, and Michael Olise are honestly ridiculous, but Declan Rice is as strong of a Player of the Season candidate as it gets in the Premier League.
He is a crucial leader for the best team in the league, a great deep lying creator, and a serious defensive presence. Rice sees the game at such a high level and is one of the English Premiership’s most consistent performers.
2. Manchester City ST Erling Haaland
Yes, Erling Haaland’s production has been trailing off lately, which has hurt Manchester City’s ability to push Arsenal in the title race since they are so reliant on his goals – and his all around game is starting to lag again, too.
But the Premier League Player of the Season award is about honoring players for the full campaign, and from that perspective, Haaland has been tremendous. He is by far the league leader with 22 goals, and his seven assists are still tremendous for a striker, even if he is not known around the league for his passing.
1. Manchester United AM Bruno Fernandes
But Bruno Fernandes over on the other side of Manchester is 100 percent known for his passing. He is so much better than any other creator in the Premier League that comparison would be insulting, as his 16 assists are double that of Rayan Cherki in second.
Manchester United are in Champions League contention largely thanks to Fernandes, and what makes his 3.6 key passes per game even more insane is that he spent much of the year playing in a deep lying role under Ruben Amorim. And oh by the way, he has seven goals, too.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.