Caldentey crowned as PFA Player of the Year as new teammate picks up Young Player award | OneFootball

Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey has been named as the Women’s Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers’ Association, with her new teammate Olivia Smith picking up the Young Women’s Player award.

Caldentey, 29, was instrumental to the Gunners’ success during her first season in North London, scoring 19 goals in all competitions as Renée Slegers’ side were crowned European champions with a 1-0 win over Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

The Spanish international saw off competition from teammate Alessia Russo for the award, with Manchester United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert and Manchester City duo Mary Fowler and Yui Hasegawa also nominated.

Olivia Smith, who recently became the most expensive women’s footballer of all time after completing a £1m move from Liverpool to Arsenal, scored nine goals in 20 WSL appearances for her former side in 2024/25.

Fending off competition from the likes of Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano, 21-year-old Smith became the foreign player to have won the accolade, and told BBC Sport that “this genuinely means the world to me, knowing that no other foreigner has won this award.”

Previous winners of the YPOTY award include Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway.