GFFN Awards 2025 | The Winners | OneFootball

Ahead of the final gameweek of the Ligue 1 season, Get French Football News unveils the winners of our annual awards. As was the case with last season’s awards, your votes over the past fortnight have been weighted 50/50 with the GFFN team’s picks to select the winners in each category.

GFFN Ligue 1 Player of the Season – Ousmane Dembélé

It was thought that Kylian Mbappé’s astonishing output at PSG would have to be replaced in the aggregate. When the France captain left Les Parisiens at the end of last season, he had just finished a campaign in which he netted 27 goals in Ligue 1, securing his sixth consecutive Golden Boot in Ligue 1.

Other players have stepped up, granted, especially Bradley Barcola at the start of the season, however, in terms of goals, this team has been carried by Ousmane Dembélé’s goalscoring exploits. It is a turn of events that no one expected. A destabilising winger, Dembélé, throughout his career, has always been derided for his lack of end product.

That changed definitively this year for Dembélé, who has reinvented himself as a clinical No.9. Playing centrally, the Frenchman has shown a completely different side to his game. His 21 goals heading into the final matchday should be enough to see him win the Golden Boot, but his form has also carried over into Europe. He has 33 goals in all competitions, including eight in the Champions League. An incredible 25 of those goals have come in 2025 alone.

He has helped PSG win their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title, whilst goals against Liverpool and Arsenal have helped Les Parisiens advance to the final of the Champions League. Not that individual accolades should be linked to collective titles, but should PSG win their UCL final against Inter Milan, he would be the outstanding candidate to win the Ballon d’Or later this year. Arguably, he already is. Luke Entwistle

GFFN Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season – Andrey Santos

Andrey Santos’ move on loan to Strasbourg in January 2024 certainly raised eyebrows and even drew pretty fierce criticism. It was a move that came at the height of anti-BlueCo sentiment. It was difficult to see how Les Alsaciens would truly benefit from the move, and that was the fans’ contestation. The Brazilian had just come off a failed stint on loan at Nottingham Forest, was on international duty with the Brazil team, and would remain so for several weeks. It was highlighted that he would only be available for 13 games. But in his short stint in Alsace, he made an impression, and Strasbourg finished the season desperate to retain him, and they did.

Santos has kicked on this season under Liam Rosenior. Not only has he been a cheat-code out-of-possession, making the most tackles in Ligue 1 this season and the third most in Europe’s top five divisions, but he has also quickly established himself as a leader in the group, evidenced by Rosenior’s decision to hand him the armband on several occasions. His aggression has been crucial to RCSA’s out-of-possession approach, and he has also chipped in with goals, too, netting nine in Ligue 1.

Plenty of young stars have played a big role in Strasbourg’s achievement in ensuring European qualification for next season: Guéla Doué, Dilane Bakwa, Emanuel Emegha, and Diego Moreira, to name but a few. But there has been no one more important than Santos, who in this youthful side, has shown a maturity beyond his years. He could be a real asset for Chelsea next season, should he be integrated into the first-team set-up, as expected. LE

GFFN Ligue 1 Manager of the Season – Liam Rosenior

Liam Rosenior might have arrived at RC Strasbourg Alsace with little to no reputation to speak of, but when he eventually leaves Ligue 1, it will be with a nation and a league intimately familiar with his work.

The Englishman was fired from Hull City at the end of last season, with the club owner declaring that their vision for how football should be played was incompatible. Acun Illicali told the BBC, “I want an attacking, entertaining team… Liam’s style can be successful, but we want to see different things.” It’s a statement which would surprise any who have watched Strasbourg under Rosenior.

Since joining the club over the summer, just weeks before the start of the season, he has rapidly shaped the youngest squad in the league into one of the most exciting teams in France. Their brand of dynamic and entertaining football has not only been pleasing on the eyes but is also exceptionally successful, with Strasbourg on the cusp of securing European football ahead of the final match of the season.

Rosenior has deservedly earned the plaudits this season, and it was little surprise that with Premier League clubs taking notice of his work, Strasbourg were swift to extend his contract until 2028. Nicholas Hartland

GFFN Ligue 1 Signing of the Season – Mika Biereth

Monaco found themselves in a sticky situation in January. Wissam Ben Yedder’s consistent output over past seasons was already hard to replace following his departure the previous summer and essentially his replacement, Folarin Balogun, was forced to undergo shoulder surgery in December. He would remain sidelined for several months and so Monaco needed a striker to come in and hit the ground running.

They turned to Mika Biereth. Arriving mid-season, at the age of 21, from the Austrian league, no one expected the Arsenal academy product to have the impact he had as he netted hat-tricks in three consecutive home games in Ligue 1. He would go on to end the season with 13 in Ligue 1; no Monaco player scored more.

“Of course, he has surpassed expectations. Nobody could predict that a young player would arrive and score so many goals, as he has,” Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro told us in an exclusive interview in March. The striker has since made his debut for the Denmark squad and he has been pivotal in helping the Principality club reach their objective in qualifying for next season’s Champions League. At a crucial time, he not only filled a gaping hole in the Monaco squad but also took their attack to another level. He may have only arrived a few months ago and Scuro has stated that Biereth is a player he envisages being a part of the project for the foreseeable future, but interest in the prolific forward this summer feels inevitable. LE

GFFN Ligue 1 Flop of the Year – Youssoufa Moukoko

The days when Youssoufa Moukoko was the prodigy of German football now seem a long time ago. Having broken through at 16 at Borussia Dortmund, he had fallen out of favour at his formative club. The move on loan to OGC Nice was designed to re-ignite his fledgling career, however, the move has not worked out for any party.

Moukoko netted just two goals for Nice, both of which came in the 8-0 hammering of Saint-Étienne back in September. He was often used off the bench in Ligue 1 in the first part of the season but was given more opportunity to prove his credentials in the Europa League. He did not take them, failing to net in eight games in that competition as Le Gym finished second from bottom in the League Phase and without a single win. Nice’s elimination from that tournament coincided with the German dropping out of the picture entirely. His last game in any competition came in the Coupe de France against Stade Briochin in early February; his last start in Ligue 1 came all the way back in October.

Throughout, Franck Haise has sought to praise Moukoko’s mentality and efforts in training but the loan move simply hasn’t worked and, as confirmed by Haise, it is certain that Nice will not exercise the option to make the move permanent. Reports suggest that Borussia Dortmund don’t wish to retain Moukoko, whose career, at the age of just 20, is at a crossroads. LE

GFFN Best Frenchman Abroad – Jules Koundé

Jules Koundé is never shy to put out a bold statement. The Bordeaux youth graduate has made a habit of turning up at Clairefontaine with an eye-catching fit. But the Barcelona defender is also known to speak his mind regarding player welfare. “We’re not machines. To give the fans what they want, we need a rest.”

The thing is, Koundé does not listen to his own advice. When taking into account France outings, the 26-year-old has played a whopping 59 games this season alone! In football, the most overlooked ability has always been availability, and it appears both Didier Deschamps and Hansi Flick can thank their lucky stars that Koundé continues to deliver remarkable shifts on his right flank.

Despite some reluctance to make the switch from the centre-back post, Koundé has made becoming Barcelona’s best-ever full-back his objective. To do so, he worked tirelessly to improve, both as a footballer and as an athlete. With a Mo-Salah-like regard to his fitness, he is now the most-used outfield player of one of the very best teams in Europe this season.

It’s fitting Koundé was the player to fire Barcelona up to Copa del Rey glory, against El Clásico rivals Real Madrid, with a blistering extra-time winner from outside the penalty box. As indispensable as it gets. Even Flick has given up on trying to restrain Koundé. “The problem with Jules is that when I tell him I’m going to give him 30 minutes less so he can rest, the next day he goes to Sitges (a coastal town south of Barcelona) to run.” Bastien Cheval

GFFN Ligue 1 Team of the Year

Gianluigi Donnarumma; Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Leonardo Balerdi, Achraf Hakimi; Vitinha, João Neves, Andrey Santos; Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, Rayan Cherki.

The Bench

Djordje Petrovic (Strasbourg), Diego Moreira (Strasbourg), Bafodé Diakité (Lille), Guéla Doué (Strasbourg), Adrien Rabiot (Marseille), Malick Fofana (Lyon), Mika Biereth (Monaco), Désiré Doué (PSG), Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco)

>> READ: Our full Ligue 1 Team of the Year profile piece

GFFN | Luke Entwistle