Fernandes, Raya, Thiago? Picking our Premier League player of the year nominees – The Athletic

Bruno Fernandes recorded his 16th assist on Sunday, a Manchester United Premier League record that leaves him only four short of the division’s record for a season.

His prolific form, particularly since the departure of Ruben Amorim, has led to calls for him to be named the Premier League’s player of the season — but should he really be the leading contender?

With less than a quarter of the season to go, we asked our writers who they believe should be this season’s nominees. This is who they picked.

Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth and Manchester City)

I fully expect the official award will go to Declan Rice of Arsenal, and deservedly so, but my vote would be for the player who has done the most to light up a below-average season. Antoine Semenyo is that man after his goal-scoring contribution for Bournemouth and then his seamless introduction to Manchester City, having moved in the January transfer window for around £62.5million ($83m).

Semenyo has 15 goals in 29 Premier League games, which is some going, bearing in mind he seldom plays as an out-and-out striker. His high level of performance has been maintained all season, while one of the reasons Pep Guardiola’s team are falling short is that some of their other attackers — Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Savinho — have shown brilliant bursts of form without keeping it up.

Semenyo has looked at home at City (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Overall, it is the least impressive City side I’ve seen since Guardiola’s first season in charge, and if Arsenal win the league, as they surely will, they’ll be the least watchable champions for many years. Semenyo has done more than anyone to lift the Premier League to its previous level.

Daniel Taylor

Gabriel (Arsenal)

In a Premier League season defined by attritional football — built around set pieces rather than expansive, expressive play — I find myself torn between the player who has excelled at that side of the game, Arsenal defender Gabriel, and the player who has done most to rise above it, Fernandes.

I’m going to go with Gabriel. He’s a throwback central defender, a warrior first and a footballer second. That is a compliment, by the way.

This Arsenal team is defined by resilience, tenacity, physicality… and a huge threat at set pieces. He embodies all of that. I hate it when he collapses for a foul at the slightest nudge by an opponent. But let’s be honest, most players do the same in the Premier League these days.

Oliver Kay

David Raya (Arsenal)

Goalkeepers will never challenge for this award in the way that they should, but teams with average goalkeepers rarely win the biggest trophies. Just look through a recent list of Premier League champions for evidence of that.

Raya is not unsung; plenty of attention has been drawn to his many, many excellent saves this season, the quality of his work in the air, and the variety and reliability of his distribution. Arsenal’s attack has struggled to score freely and, in the main, has depended on the back line that Raya commands.

Raya has ended Arsenal’s goalkeeper uncertainty (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Looking around the league, there are plenty of capable goalkeepers, but none of them is as complete as Raya. Manchester City are Arsenal’s nearest challenger this season and Gianluigi Donnarumma is a very talented and well-decorated player, but has he played the position as broadly this season? Arguably not.

And this seems especially pertinent at Arsenal, who have had goalkeeping uncertainty since David Seaman left the club, and have settled for players who were never best-in-class. That’s no longer the case: Raya is inarguably one of the best ‘keepers in the world and Arsenal would not be where they are had he not been signed to replace Aaron Ramsdale.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

If one definition of genius is to make extremely difficult things look extremely easy, then Fernandes provided a sensational example of that against Aston Villa at the weekend. His assist for Matheus Cunha’s goal was the most perfectly directed and perfectly weighted pass you could imagine, and one that didn’t even really look on from his position. But he played it as if he was returning the ball to a colleague to take a throw, the sort of thing you would do a million times over a season.

And that’s what he has been doing all season. His assist count stands at 16, four shy of the Premier League record shared by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry, but arguably a more impressive number is how many chances he has created, which stands at 98. For reference/comparison, the next highest is Rice with 58. That isn’t a typo: set he’s created almost twice as many chances as number two on the list.

Put all of this together with the fact that he was played out of position for the first half of the season, under Ruben Amorim, and you realise that this is an astonishing footballer having an astonishing season.

Nick Miller

Igor Thiago (Brentford)

Brentford were supposed to struggle this season after losing their captain Christian Norgaard, top-goalscorer Bryan Mbeumo and long-serving head coach Thomas Frank last summer. They have surpassed all expectations under Keith Andrews and could qualify for a European competition for the first time in their history.

Brentford’s surge up the table has been spearheaded by their Brazilian star, Igor Thiago. The centre-forward joined Brentford in July 2024 from Belgian side Club Bruges for a then-club-record fee of €36.5million (£31m; $41.5m) but a knee injury disrupted his debut season. There was a lot of pressure on him to step up following the departures of Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, but after scoring on the opening day against Nottingham Forest, Thiago has not looked back.

The 24-year-old has scored crucial goals in memorable victories over Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United. He grabbed a hat-trick in a 4-2 win against Everton.

Haaland has scored more goals than Thiago, but his form has tailed off in 2026. Thiago should be rewarded for his consistency with the player-of-the-season award, and has earned a first call-up to represent Brazil. It would cap an incredible story that included him working as a rubbish collector and at a local supermarket when he was a teenager.

Jay Harris

Declan Rice (Arsenal)

He’s been central to Arsenal’s push for trophies in every way this season. Need a leader on the pitch? There are few better. Need someone to drive the team forward? Break up play? Be a mentor for younger members of the squad? Maintain composure in the face of rising tension? Rice has been all of it for Mikel Arteta’s title chasers.

While Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has struggled with injury this season, Rice has been almost ever-present, missing one game through injury and picking up two bookings, testaments to his ability to read the play and position himself accordingly.

Rice has made a huge impact since joining Arsenal (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

In a high-pressure season, Rice’s mentality and calming presence are a crucial influence on his team-mates.

When Arteta brought him to Arsenal in 2023, he said the former West Ham United man could be a “lighthouse” for the team. Rice is proving to be exactly that, and so much more.

Sarah Shephard

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