Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey were voted the men’s and women’s player of the year in English soccer for last season at the Professional Footballers’ Association awards on Tuesday.
For Salah, it marks a record third time he has won the award that is voted by his fellow professionals. The 33-year-old Egypt international scored 29 goals and provided 18 assists in the Premier League as Liverpool powered to a record-equaling 20th English top-flight championship.
Salah also collected the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year award for a third time earlier in the year.
The 29-year-old Caldentey enjoyed a brilliant first season at Arsenal, scoring 19 goals in all competitions — including eight on her team’s journey to lifting the Champions League trophy with a victory in the final against her former club, Barcelona.
Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers was voted as the men’s young player of the year, while Olivia Smith — the Canada striker now at Arsenal after a world-record transfer — won the women’s equivalent after a strong season at Liverpool.
The Egyptian Mohamed Salah became the first person to receive the prize for a third time, following his successes in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
On the way to collecting a second Premier League winner’s medal, Salah produced 34 goals and 23 assists from his 52 appearances in all competitions.
Forty-seven of those goal involvements came in the league as the ever-present forward equalled the competition’s all-time record for that statistic, adding another Golden Boot and Playmaker prize to his individual honours list.
Terry McDermott (1979-80), Sir Kenny Dalglish (1982-83), Ian Rush (1983-84), John Barnes (1987-88), Steven Gerrard (2005-06), Luis Suarez (2013-14) and Virgil van Dijk (2018-19) are the others to have been named Men’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year while at Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Salah secured a spot in the annual XI, which is voted for by the country’s professional players and was announced at a ceremony in Manchester.
Van Dijk, Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Salah helped the Reds clinch the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first campaign as head coach.
Slot’s men sealed first place with four matches to spare and went on to amass 84 points, delivering the club a record-equalling 20th top-flight title.
Summer signing Kerkez, meanwhile, earned his berth in the team based on his form for AFC Bournemouth, producing five assists and two goals from his 38 league starts in 2024-25.
PFA Awards 2025:
PFA Men’s Player of the Year: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
PFA Men’s Young Player of the Year: Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
PFA Women’s Player of the Year: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)
PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year: Olivia Smith (Liverpool/Arsenal)
PFA Championship Player of the Year: James Trafford (Burnley/Manchester City)
PFA League One Player of the Year: Richard Kone (Wycombe Wanderers)
PFA League Two Player of the Year: Michael Cheek (Bromley)
PFA Merit Award: Sir Gareth Southgate
PFA Teams of the Year
Arsenal trio and Liverpool quartet dominated the Premier League team of the year in the PFA awards 2025. In the Women’s Super League, there were four Arsenal women’s players, who won the Women’s Champions League last season.
PFA Premier League Team of the Year 2024-25
Goalkeeper: Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: William Saliba (Arsenal); Gabriel (Arsenal); Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool); Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth, now Liverpool)
Midfielders: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool); Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool); Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool); Alexander Isak (Newcastle); Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest).
Women’s Super League Team of the Year
Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Jayde Riviere (Manchester United), Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United), Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea), Alessia Russo (Arsenal), Kim Little (Arsenal), Mary Fowler (Manchester City), Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal).
Championship Team of the Year
James Trafford (Burnley), Maxime Estève (Burnley), CJ Egan-Riley (Burnley), Junior Firpo (Leeds United), Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Jayden Bogle (Leeds United), Josh Brownhill (Burnley), Borja Sainz (Norwich City), Gustavo Hamer (Sheffield United), Daniel James (Leeds United), Joël Piroe (Leeds United)
League One Team of the Year
Alex Cochrane (Birmingham City), Richard Kone (Wycombe Wanderers), Charlie Kelman (Leyton Orient), Lloyd Jones (Charlton Athletic), Kwame Poku (Peterborough United), Paik Seung-ho (Birmingham City), Christoph Klarer (Birmingham City), Tomoki Iwana (Birmingham City), Ryan Allsop (Birmingham City), Ethan Laird (Birmingham City), Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City)
League Two Team of the Year
George Abbott (Notts County), Denver Hume (Grimsby Town), Taylor Allen (Walsall), Alassana Jatta (Notts County), Brad Halliday (Bradford City), Mickey Demetriou (Crewe Alexandra), Jack Payne (Colchester United), David McGoldrick (Notts County), Luke Molyneux (Doncaster Rovers), Owen Goodman (AFC Wimbledon), Michael Cheek (Bromley)