Salah and Rogers scoop PFA player of the year awards

Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has won the Professional Footballers’ Association men’s player of the year award, with Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers named young player of the year.

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate is the 2025 recipient of the PFA merit award for his contributions to football and achievements with the national side.

Salah, 33, is the first player to win the accolade on three occasions after playing a key role in Liverpool’s title success last season.

Asked if he had ambitions to win awards while growing up in Egypt, he said: “Of course I wanted to be a football player and I wanted to be famous and provide for my family, but you don’t think about the big stuff when you are still in Egypt.

“When you grow, you start to see things differently and you start to have ambition and you start to the see the bigger picture.”

The Egypt international was the Premier League’s top scorer in 2024-25 – registering 29 times and providing 18 assists.

Reds team-mate Alexis Mac Allister, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, Chelsea forward Cole Palmer and Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice were also on the shortlist.

Salah also won the 2024-25 Premier League player of the season award and was named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) footballer of the year.

Rogers enjoys breakthrough season

Rogers is the fifth Aston Villa representative to be named young player of the season, following in the footsteps of Andy Gray, Gary Shaw, Ashley Young and James Milner.

Other former winners of the award include Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale, and Rogers said he wants to be one of the “incredible players people speak about”.

“Later down the line, I want to be one of those incredible players people speak about, so to do that I have to do what they did and what they followed after,” he told BBC Sport.

“It’s a nice recognition but there’s more to win and I can’t wait.”

It is the seventh successive year that an English player has won the award.

Villa signed Rogers from Middlesbrough for a fee in the region of £15m in February 2024 and he became a regular under Unai Emery last season.

The 23-year-old featured 54 times across all competitions, scoring 14 times, as Villa finished sixth in the Premier League, reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

He was also rewarded with a first senior England call-up in November, making his debut against Greece, and has gone on to earn six caps.

Arsenal pair Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri; Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez, who have left Bournemouth for Real Madrid and Liverpool respectively; and Liam Delap, now at Chelsea after catching the eye at Ipswich, were also in contention for the award.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper James Trafford, who joined Manchester City last month, has been named Championship player of the year after keeping 29 clean sheets to help Burnley finish second and secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Striker Richard Kone – now on the books of Queens Park Rangers – won the League One award after registering 18 times for Wycombe.

The League Two award went to Bromley striker Michael Cheek, who won the Golden Boot with 25 goals.

Southgate’s England exploits rewarded

Southgate becomes the fifth former England manager to win the merit award since it was established in 1974.

During his eight-year tenure, which ran from 2016 to 2024, Southgate took England to four major tournaments – reaching the finals at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 and the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup.

Prior to being appointed as manager of England’s senior side, Southgate spent three years at the helm of the Under-21s, developing future stars with the Young Lions.

The 54-year-old is one of just three managers to take charge of 100 matches with England – taking his place in the dugout on 102 occasions.

Southgate handed debuts to 42 players – almost double that of any other England manager – helping to breathe new life into the national team.

Liverpool and Arsenal players dominate team of year

The Premier League team of the year, as voted for by the players, was dominated by champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal.

Salah, Mac Allister, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch were included from Arne Slot’s side while Rice, William Saliba and Gabriel made up the Arsenal contingent.

Nottingham Forest duo Matz Sels and Chris Wood were selected for the first time with Isak and left-back Kerkez completing the XI.

Goalkeeper:

Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)

Defenders:

William Saliba (Arsenal)

Gabriel (Arsenal)

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth, now Liverpool)

Midfielders:

Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)

Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)

Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards:

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Alexander Isak (Newcastle)

Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)

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