Premier League 2025-26 Player of the Year Power Rankings: Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhaes make the early running after fast starts to the season

You can see why Pep Guardiola has been so enamoured with the idea of Jeremy Doku since he arrived from Rennes in 2023. The Belgian winger is easily among the best one-v-one dribblers in world football, though this standout talent has often proven frustrating when trying to turn chances into goals, either himself or by setting up others.

The stats this season aren't too different to his usual numbers - one goal and three assists in 11 Premier League games - but Doku is doing far more to aid Manchester City's recent uptick. Rather than being marooned on an island by the touchline, he's playing far more centrally and getting into the tight spaces only he can expertly navigate so effortlessly.

Bumping Doku into the top 10 is partially grounded in recency bias, but his Player-of-the-Match performance in Sunday's 3-0 thrashing of Liverpool was too difficult to ignore and was one of the finest individual performances of the season.

"I want to play without any fear or doubt or anything," he told reporters. "I'm 23 years old. I hope this is not my peak level. I hope I can still improve, improve my finishing, improve my movements in the box, improve my decision-making, improve on my awareness when I have the ball – a lot. This is an unfinished product and I hope with these team-mates, and a very good coach like Pep, I can still improve."

Of all the signings Arsenal made this summer, the ones who excited supporters most upon announcement were Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze. They haven't, however, quite hit the ground running in N5, but Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi certainly has.

He's immediately brought a heads-up attitude that has been missing from Arsenal's midfield since Granit Xhaka departed the club in 2023. Just like the days of Arsene Wenger, the Gunners' No.6 can break the lines with pinpoint passing so effortlessly. Backed up by the muscle of Declan Rice, Mikel Arteta has a rather complete duo on his hands.

After scoring twice in a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest back in September, Arteta said of Zubimendi: "Certainly he's given us a lot of positive things, his presence, his authority on the pitch, the way he connects with the players and that composure that he's having. If he starts to add assists and goals like this, it's another dimension of a player... He was unbelievable, the two goals are very difficult to score. Martin is bringing such a presence, composure and understanding of the game that makes the team flow and play better. And on top of that, he's adding goals and assists, so that's the trajectory that we have to maintain with him."

It was hard for Manchester United to sink any lower this season, but they gave it a bloody good go for a few weeks. A slow start to the Premier League campaign, coupled with a humiliating exit to League Two side Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup, followed a year that saw them finish 15th (FIFTEENTH) and lose the Europa League final to Tottenham (TOTTENHAM).

Ruben Amorim hasn't totally 'turned the Reds around' quite yet, but there are reasons to be positive, none more so than the acquisition and integration of Bryan Mbeumo, a big-money signing who is actually thriving in the intense Old Trafford spotlight. The forward already has five goals in 11 Premier League games for United - a tally which would have ranked as the squad's third-highest for all of last season - and looks every bit a player worthy of representing a club with 20 titles to their name. The Homer Simpson-inspired celebration is a bonus.

Even United's all-time leading scorer has been hugely impressed by Mbeumo, with Wayne Rooney commenting: "Mbeumo has been consistent with his performances, I think that's the main thing. If you're consistently getting in the right positions, getting chances, you will score. When you're a forward and you score goals, you enjoy scoring goals and that feeling keeps going. His confidence is very high at the minute. Hopefully that continues because he's certainly been the best signing for United this season."

Mbeumo took home the Premier League Player of the Month award for October and United fans must already be dreading how they may cope without him when he joins up with the Cameroon squad for their Africa Cup of Nations campaign this winter.

Such has been the success of Declan Rice at Arsenal that nobody even bothers to debate whether the Gunners were right to break the nine-figure mark to sign him from West Ham. "We got him half price," Gunners supporters gleefully sing from the terraces.

This hasn't even been that outstanding of a season for Rice, not by his standards. Nonetheless, he's still providing the midfield steel that protects their dominant backline and is as important an offensive weapon - a huge part of their arsenal, if you will - as anyone else in their squad, terrorising opponents with his wicked corners and free-kicks.

For Arsenal and England, Rice has been afforded a bit more freedom this term and for good reason. "I can play No.6 or No.8," he said recently. "I think now I am more of a box-to-box No.8. The manager has adjusted my position at Arsenal a bit this year, given me a bit more freedom to drop deep, but also get in the box when I can. It is the same with Thomas [Tuchel]. I think that really suits me on that left side of midfield. Being able to get back to being an all-round action midfielder is what I want to be, and I am just enjoying my football.

"I have got two managers who lay it out really easy with the game plan, what I have to do and where I have to be. Obviously, I am the one that has to go and execute it, but when you have confidence in football, you feel unstoppable at times. I ended the season really strong last year and probably didn’t start one or two games of this season as good as I wanted, but I have picked up my form now. I feel really strong. I feel fit, really confident in my game, and hopefully the only way is up from here for England and Arsenal."

What a strange career arc Xhaka has had. A prospect at Borussia Monchengladbach, a liability and complete opposite of a fan favourite to start at Arsenal, adored by the supporters by the time he left, the engine of an invincible Bayer Leverkusen side, and now the elder statesman for a Sunderland team exciting the world.

The Black Cats trailed 1-0 to Sheffield United in May's Championship play-off final, but a stunning second-half comeback has completely turned their 2025 on its head. Xhaka was the cherry on top of a fantastic summer window that primed them to survive relegation, and those on Wearside are starting to dream of Europe.

While Mbeumo may be Rooney's pick of United's incomings, the former striker reckons that Xhaka is actually the best in the entire Premier League. Rooney said: "Coming back to the Premier League you wonder if he can do it. Obviously with a promoted team as well coming up, what impact could he have? But he's probably been the signing of the season. He has been brilliant.

"When he had the situation with Arsenal, when he fell out with the fans it showed his character to go and play for Arsenal again. To get through that and then go and perform for Arsenal, and then at Leverkusen to be part of a team to beat Bayern Munich to the title for the first time in over 10 years has shown what a good player he is.

"Sunderland have got a very young squad as well. He'd almost be like a father figure and he'll be a big help for the coach as well to be the in-between man as captain. And they made a lot of signings in the summer, he'll be a massive help for the manager and with them players, for sure, using his experience."

Jurrien Timber is currently the Premier League's best one-v-one defender bar none, but it's also worth mentioning how strong his mentality must be to have even got to this level. He suffered a devastating ACL injury on his debut for Arsenal after joining from Ajax in 2023, ruling him out for almost all of his debut season, save for 21 minutes on the final day of the campaign.

The decline of Ben White, who himself has struggled to keep fit over the last year or so, hasn't really been felt by the Gunners because of Timber's excellence. He's also been able to get in on the 'Set-Piece FC' act, with only Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka outscoring him in the league among the current squad this season.

Timber is one of Arsenal's more under-appreciated players to the outside world, but those associated with the club are well aware of his abilities. Club icon Jack Wilshere said back in October: "The one that I really love is Timber. I think, apart from number nine and in goal, he gives you something in every single position. He’s aggressive, he wins his duels, he looks like a leader."

Bournemouth could have easily folded this season. The losses of star defenders Dean Huijsen, Iliya Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, respectively would have buried them in another life. Andoni Iraola and the Cherries' recruitment team have worked miracles to make the team somehow even better, and at the heart of those efforts has been Antoine Semenyo.

The Ghanaian winger is said to have been the subject of summer interest from Manchester United and Tottenham, but decided to stay at the Vitality Stadium. As it stands, he was right to hedge those bets, partly because he could get an even better move in future but also because Bournemouth look far more competent than those two sides at the moment.

Liverpool are the team now most prominently linked with Semenyo, but they hardly look like a functioning outfit right now either. Instead, he has been backed to play for Real Madrid if he manages to keep this pace up for the entire season, so far sitting on six goals and three assists in 11 games.

Semenyo has credited Iraola for getting the best out of him since making the step up to the Premier League from Championship side Bristol City. "I think he's allowing me to be myself," he said of his manager. "I just need to play free-minded. We've made the game plan clear and what we need to do and, in that framework, he's allowed me to express myself and be creative. That's why my game is flourishing. Running is so important for him too, and it's all come together really well."

Chelsea supporters online have sought to make a rivalry with Jamie Carragher over the last few years amid his scathing criticism of the club's plans under the ownership of BlueCo. They particularly haven't liked when he's gone on the record to say he thinks Arsenal's Rice is better than their Moises Caicedo.

Times are changing, however. After his Player-of-the-Match performance at Tottenham last week, during which he won the ball high up the pitch before assisting Joao Pedro's winning goal, Carragher said of the Ecuadorian: "This was one of those goal when it’s not about the goal-scorer... It's all about Caicedo. He's an absolute monster in midfield! He makes challenge after challenge and basically gets Chelsea that goal. It's absolutely fantastic from Caicedo and exactly what Chelsea have deserved."

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez echoed those comments, adding: "I don't really need to talk about him but he's an actual animal. He's the best player on the planet in his position. He's one of the best in the world, who is better than him in that position? He's a beast. Every 50-50, every challenge he wins and is so composed on the ball.

"I haven't seen him change much. As a player and as a character, he's always been the same, hard work, effort, quiet but a very good guy. Obviously, he's filled out with his body a bit more with age and with experience, he's just got better and better on the pitch. His confidence has also gone higher and higher. He's a boss at winning the midfield."

The Blues have limped and lurched from one performance to another this season amid a spate of injuries, with head coach Enzo Maresca facing the brunt of criticism for not simply sticking to one system. Caicedo has been a near-constant however, featuring in 95 percent of all minutes that Chelsea have played. You can assure he's almost always been their best player in each of those outings as well.

The list of centre-backs to have won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award (the one that actually matters to the masses, not the Premier League and FWA equivalents) is incredibly short. Since its inception in 1973, only Norman Hunter, Colin Todd, Gary Pallister, Paul McGrath, John Terry and Virgil van Dijk have taken that prize home having played in the middle of defence. As you can see, it's even more uncommon in the modern era.

Yet Gabriel Magalhaes, through only 11 games of the season, is increasingly feeling like a worthy winner, particularly if his Arsenal side do go on to claim the title as so many expect them to do. The Brazil international is a ridiculous threat at either end of the pitch and is one of the main reasons why we've entered an era of set-piece dominance.

"If you ask me what I want from my centre-back, I want somebody who dominates both boxes and masters that. Gabriel can do that," Arteta said a few weeks ago. "He defends like a world-class defender, and he attacks like a world-class attacker. When you look at his presence, the way he leads the team, the way he talks to people, his body language, there’s a lot to like. It’s no coincidence that he has evolved into one of the best centre-backs in the world."

We're running out of ways to describe one Erling Braut Haaland, if we're being honest. How many times can you say someone is a machine, or they're inevitable, or they're unstoppable? He's rendering the terms meaningless, and that is reason enough to top this list.

Haaland is the main reason City have a slither of hope in the Premier League title race. The team as a collective doesn't have the same quality or ruthlessness as others under Guardiola, but they have the best scorer in world football at the peak of his powers. That may just be enough.

On the other side of the November international break, Haaland will join the Premier League 100 Club, sitting on 99 goals after only 108 games and 14 this term alone. Guardiola has come out insisting this a calibre of forward on par with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, even if the Norwegian himself doesn't agree.

"This is what it's like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo, his influence is so big," Guardiola said. "You see the numbers of that guy? Of course he's that level. Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level. The first goal, the way he shoots the ball, it's like 'I am going to score'. He has that hunger. It's top. I said how incredibly coachable and manageable he is."

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