Fernandes and Shaw named PFA player of the year 2026 as United captain ends 16-year drought

Bruno Fernandes and Khadija Shaw have been named the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year for 2025-26, the union’s two flagship prizes settled by a ballot of top-flight players.

Each had already collected the Football Writers’ Association’s footballer of the year honour this summer, and their fellow professionals in the dressing room have now rubber-stamped those verdicts in the annual PFA vote.

Fernandes ends a remarkable United wait

For the Portugal international, the honour carries particular weight. Fernandes becomes the first United player to take the men’s prize since Wayne Rooney in 2010, ending a 16-year gap for a club that once treated the trophy almost as a birthright.

His campaign was built on extraordinary creativity. The 31-year-old finished the season with a new Premier League record of 21 assists, moving clear of the 20 managed by both Kevin de Bruyne and Thierry Henry. There were nine goals in 35 league appearances alongside that supply line, with a goal and an assist in the campaign’s closing fixture at Brighton, and 22 assists across 37 matches in all competitions as United sealed a third-place finish and a return to the Champions League.

That he claimed the award even in a season when United went without silverware only underlines the scale of his individual influence. Fernandes saw off the Arsenal trio of Gabriel Magalhaes, David Raya and Declan Rice, along with City’s Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, and is only the second Portuguese winner of the award after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007 and 2008.

Shaw adds a third golden boot to a second PFA crown

On the women’s side, Shaw’s second triumph in three seasons was close to a formality. The Manchester City forward plundered 21 goals in 22 appearances as the club lifted a second WSL title, collecting a third consecutive golden boot in the process, a feat never before achieved. She then added five more in the cups, including the opener in the FA Cup final, as City completed a double.

The 29-year-old’s scoring made her the first player to chalk up 20 or more goals in three separate WSL campaigns, thanks to hat-tricks against Aston Villa and Tottenham either side of a double on the final day against West Ham. Shaw also took her place alongside Lucy Bronze and Fran Kirby as only the third multiple winner of the women’s award.

Young player honours and two glittering sides

Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly succeeded Morgan Rogers as the men’s young player of the year after a breakthrough season that brought five goals and nine clean sheets, while Arsenal’s Olivia Smith retained the women’s prize, only the second player after Lauren Hemp to win it more than once.

Arsenal, the champions, and runners-up Manchester City dominate the Premier League team of the year, with the Gunners’ miserly back line, breached just 27 times, earning four selections. City’s Antoine Semenyo and Brentford’s Igor Thiago both made the side as debutants, while the WSL XI drew three players apiece from the top three in the division.

It makes for a fitting end to 2025-26, a campaign in which the very best were ultimately judged by the men and women who share the pitch with them. The verdicts, as ever, came with the backing of the game’s own peers.