If the Premier League handed out NBA-style awards for 2025-26 | OneFootball

Borrowing from the NBA playbook, we hand out five end of season awards for the 2025-26 Premier League. According to NY Times, here are the picks.

Rookie of the Year shortlist: Hugo Ekitike, Rayan Cherki, Eli Junior Kroupi. Winner: Cherki, outstanding for Manchester City after a €36.5million (£30.9m, $41.7m at the time) move from Lyon last June, with four goals and 10 assists in 28 league games.

Defensive Player shortlist: Gabriel, William Saliba, Marc Guehi. Winner: Gabriel, central to Arsenal’s league-high 16 clean sheets and a league-low 26 goals conceded, and scorer of an added-time winner away to Newcastle United in September.

Most Improved shortlist: Igor Thiago, Nico O’Reilly, Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Winner: O’Reilly, remodelled by Pep Guardiola as an adventurous inverted full-back, who scored both goals in March’s Carabao Cup final and has five goals and three assists in 31 of 33 league games after nine appearances last season.

Sixth Man shortlist: Benjamin Sesko, Samuel Chukwueze, Emiliano Buendia. Winner: Sesko, a decisive substitute in February with goals off the bench against Fulham, West Ham United and Everton, earning Manchester United six points, including stoppage-time strikes in a 3-2 win over Fulham and 1-1 draw with West Ham.

Clutch Player shortlist: Igor Thiago, Erling Haaland, Morgan Gibbs-White. Winner: Thiago, lethal for Brentford and chasing Haaland for the Golden Boot with 21 league goals to 24, and now in contention to start for Brazil at the World Cup after his first call-up in March.

Source: NY Times