Trio nominated for PL Player of the Season | News
A trio of Gunners have been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season award, and your votes can help one of them win the prestigious award.
Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice have been named on an eight-player shortlist of those who have shone brightest in the division during 2025/26, with our stars helping us to the brink of the league title with two games still to play.
Big Gabi is nominated after another standout season in the heart of our defence. He has contributed at both ends of the pitch, scoring three goals and assisting four more, while also helping us to a competition-low 26 goals conceded so far, thanks to an incredible 88.2% successful pass rate, winning two-thirds of his duels, and making 34 blocks and 23 interceptions.
David has already secured the Premier League Golden Glove for the third successive season, having registered 18 clean sheets in 36 matches. He has made a string of impressive and incredible saves stretching back to matchday one when he somehow denied Manchester United’s Mathes Cunha, one of a number of nominations for Save of the Month, which he won in December for an incredible stop to deny Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yankuba Minteh.
Declan meanwhile has been the heartbeat of our midfield, missing only one league game during the campaign. His versatility has seen him operate in front of our back four or behind our frontline, while his threat from set-pieces has been a key component of our title push and has seen him register five league assists, while also contributing with four goals of his own, including a brace in a key win against Bournemouth in January.
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How David Raya won the 2025/26 Golden Glove
The five other contenders include the top two scorers in the division, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Brentford’s breakout star, Igor Thiago, while Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes is recognised for assisting 19 times so far.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s impressive haul of 13 league goals gets him a place on the shortlist, where the Nottingham Forest man is joined by Antoine Semenyo, who has impressed for both Bournemouth and Manchester City either side of January.
The award, which has been presented since 1995, has previously been won by three Gunners. Patrick Vieira was the first in 2000/01, with Freddie Ljungberg claiming it the year after. Thierry Henry was then awarded it twice in 2003/04 and 2005/06, meaning we could end a 20-year wait to see one of our players join the illustrious roll of honour, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the current holder.
Supporters’ votes will be added to the opinions of a panel of experts to determine the winner, so make sure you cast your ballot before 12pm on Monday, May 18.
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