Wednesday, May 20, 2026
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2026 PFA Player of the Year: Why Erling Haaland Should Win the Award

Subhadeep Roy · · 3 min read
2026 PFA Player of the Year: Why Erling Haaland Should Win the Award
Manchester City v Brentford – Premier League Erling Haaland of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, United Kingdom, on May 9, 2026. Manchester Greater Manchester United, ManU Kingdom Copyright: xNewsxImagesx originalFilename:cosgrove-premierl260509_npXKD.jpg

Who is going to be the PFA Player of the Year for the 2025/26 season? That is a question that is running in most football-lovers’ minds, who regularly watch English top-flight football.

Now that Arsenal have won the Premier League title after Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 19, one should start wondering who will be the PFA Player of the Season.

Arsenal’s Gabriel, Declan Rice and David Raya should all be in the reckoning for the title, having helped their team win it for the first time in 22 years. Bruno Fernandes, who has had a record-equalling 20 assists this season in the Premier League, also has an outside chance. However, it is Erling Haaland who probably deserves to win the PFA Player of the Year title the most.

Why Should Erling Haaland Win the PFA Player of the Year?

Haaland scored once again to equalise for Manchester City against Bournemouth, which was Haaland’s 38th goal of the season. Manchester City will play their last match against Aston Villa on Sunday, May 24, which will give Haaland another chance to add to his tally.

It means that Haaland has once again come near the tally of 40 goals in a season for his club. Haaland now has 162 goals in 198 matches for the Cityzens, and the minimum number of goals he has scored in a season is 34, which is more than a lot of players ever manage. In the Premier League alone, Haaland has scored 27 goals in 35 matches this season.

The Norwegian also has nine assists this season, which means that he has improved his link-up play a great deal. It is not common for a No.9 to have that many assists in a single season. The player with the most assists is Bruno Fernandes – another player with a decent shout for the PFA Player of the Year – with 20.

Moreover, the Norwegian has performed consistently throughout the season. In the first half of the season, when the Cityzens had an underwhelming time, and Arsenal managed to take a decisive lead, Haaland was still performing and kept Manchester City in the reckoning for the title.

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25th January 2025; Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England; Premier League Football, Manchester City versus Chelsea; Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola follow the action from the touchline ActionPlus12743914 DavidxBlunsden Content restricted for UK based newspaper

Will an Arsenal Player Win the PFA Player of the Year?

As mentioned already, at least three players from the Gunners’ squad should be in the reckoning.

Raya has been great in goal and has won the Golden Glove already. Gabriel is probably the best centre-back in the world at the moment, and Rice is probably the best holding midfielder in the Premier League at the moment. Rice has only five goals and seven assists in 54 matches, hardly the kind of numbers one would expect from a Player of the Season.

However, none of them has probably had as much impact on their team as Haaland has on Manchester City this season. The Norwegian’s numbers are very good, and it is because of him that the title race has been this close.

It remains to be seen who wins the PFA Player of the Year. However, Haaland should be the frontrunner to win the award.

It has to be remembered in this context that he has already won the award in the 2022/23 season, when he had scored 52 goals, but had not had as many assists as he has this season.

Main Photo

Credit: IMAGO / NurPhoto

Recording Date: 09.05.2026

Subhadeep Roy

Subhadeep Roy is an experienced football writer with a particular interest in analysis of matches and club news. He follows the Premier League primarily and has been covering football for various websites since 2018.

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