Every Premier League team's 2024-25 MVP

Arsenal finished second (again), and some issues with scoring kept the club from really vying for the title. Had Bukayo Saka stayed healthy, he may have been the team’s MVP. William Saliba and Declan Rice both played well, and Rice is a strong box-to-box midfielder. However, the Gunners allowed the fewest goals in the Premier League, and Raya was in net for every single one of them. His goaltending proved vital to a team that sometimes couldn’t find the net at the level of truly elite teams.

Morgan Rogers stepped up big replacing Jhon Duran, but let’s be honest. Watkins was Aston Villa’s MVP last season, and he was again this season. He was one of only two players with at least 15 goals and 10 assists. Watkins is one of the best attacking players in the world, and the leading light of Aston Villa.

Dean Huijsen is a giant, 20-year-old defender who is signing with Real Madrid. He had an excellent season for Bournemouth. However, his fellow defender Kerkez was even better. Bombing up and down the left side of the pitch, Kerkez started every game for the Cherries and he was part of seven goals, compared to six for Huijsen. More to the point, Huijsen (whose role is admittedly more defensive) drew 10 fouls while committing 31. Kerkez committed 30 but drew 50. Oh, and the Hungarian is only 21. Sure, Real Madrid didn’t sign Kerkez, but the rumor is that Liverpool will.

Once again, Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa drove Brentford’s offense. The club scored 66 goals, and this duo had 39 of them. Mbeumo hit the round-number threshold, though, by getting 20 goals. The Cameroonian also had seven assists to Wissa’s four. What a duo…but Mbeumo was a bit better.

Pascal Gross left, but Mitoma stayed healthy this year and was able to step into his role. Maybe Mitoma doesn’t distribute the ball as well as Gross, but he had 10 goals and put 27 shots on net. Joao Pedro had 10 goals as well, off of 19 shots on net, but he had six assists to Mitoma’s four. The difference for us is that Mitoma is a midfielder, and Pedro is a forward. Plus, from an “availability is an ability” perspective, Mitoma played in 36 games, while Pedro appeared in 27.

Yeah yeah, we know Palmer’s second half of the season was a little lacking. This is a full-season award, though. Palmer still had 15 goals and eight assists. He took 127 shots and was fouled 60 times. Palmer was still the driving force for Chelsea on the attack. His second half kept him from being in league MVP conversation, but he was decidedly Chelsea’s MVP.

Eze would have been Palace’s MVP even if he hadn’t scored the lone goal in its FA Cup win, but that was the icing on the cake. Marc Guehi was his usual reliable self on the backline, and Jean-Philippe Mateta led the way with 14 goals. However, Mateta was a true finisher, as he had only two assists. Playing in the midfield, though, Eze had eight goals and eight assists. He was also quite disciplined given his role, as he only committed 13 fouls and only picked up one yellow card.

Once again, Pickford was the MVP for Everton, and once again that isn’t the best thing. Everton only allowed 44 goals, tied for fourth-best in the Premier League. It also scored only 42 goals, above only the three teams that got relegated. Pickford started every game for the Toffees and made 121 saves. He also saved the club from being in the relegation battle.

Robinson has been so good that there is now discussion of whether he or Christian Pulisic is the best American player. Now, Pulisic is probably still the winner there, but Robinson was one of the best defenders in the best league in the world. Playing left back for Fulham, Robinson didn’t attack a ton. He didn’t score a goal and only put two shots on net? So why is he the club’s MVP? Because he had 10 assists and was the best ball-moving, playmaking force for Fulham.

We reach the first of the relegated teams, and obviously being the MVP of a team that had a bad season isn’t as prestigious. Still, Delap earned about the best compliment a player in such a position can get: It’s firmly believed somebody is going to bring him in on a transfer so he will keep playing top-flight football. Manchester City was never able/willing to give Delap a role on the club, so after years of loaning him out they moved him onto Ipswich prior to its Premier League campaign. The forward scored 12 goals for a club that tallied 36 goals total.

Ipswich being bad this year wasn’t too surprising or too disappointing. Just two seasons ago it was in the third tier, after all. Leicester, though, was quite a disappointment by being bad and getting relegated once again. Jamie Vardy was still around, but he’s not the player he used to be. Buonanotte did stand out, though. The 20-year-old Argentinian midfielder had five goals and two assists, and his 12 shots on target were second only to Vardy. Alas, this is another thumb in the eye for Leicester. Buonanotte was on loan from Brighton.

Uh, yeah. No-brainer here. Salah was the best player in the Premier League. He had one of the best Premier League seasons ever. Pacing the champs, Salah had six more goals than anybody else, and also six more assists than anybody else. Yes, really. His 47 goals-plus-assists tied the Premier League record, and the two guys he tied did it back during the era of a 42-game season.x

The fact Erling Haaland scored 22 goals in 31 games is remarkable, but this year the feeling of “all he’s doing in scoring goals” really permeated in a somewhat negative way. Phil Foden had a down year, and Kevin de Bruyne isn’t what he used to be. On the backline, though, Gvardiol took a major step forward. The big Croatian can play both centre-back and full-back. He scored five goals, more than de Bruyne. He put 10 shots on target, more than Jeremy Doku. Gvardiol also was fouled 27 times compared to committing 15 fouls. That foul surplus is rare for a defender, especially one often asked to play in the centre of the defense.

It had to be a disheartening season for Fernandes. He had as many goals and shots on target as any other Manchester United player. Bear in mind, he’s a midfielder. Fernandes also picked up 11 assists, fourth most in the Premier League. He’s now in his thirties, so Fernandes is probably thinking, “Get me some better teammates or get me out of here.”

Shout out to Jacob Murphy, who tied for second in the league with 12 assists. He also had eight goals for good measure. However, Isak had the best season of any striker in the Premier League and made life miserable on opposing goalkeepers. Isak put 44 shots on target and he picked up a whopping 23 goals. That was second-most in the league to Salah. If that wasn’t enough, the Swede also had six assists.

Wood is a remarkable story. Here was a thirty-something New Zealander who had spent half his career in the Championship. Last season, he surprisingly scored 14 goals for Forest, but there was a prevailing thought that was a fluke. Well, this season he scored 20 goals. Look, Anthony Elanga is a more-talented player, and also has a brighter future given that he’s a decade younger than Wood. This year, though, Wood’s 20-goal campaign made him Forest’s MVP.

Southampton’s MVP may actually be “The merciful end of the season.” The club had the second-worst season in Premier League history. However, here’s a bit of love for Fernandes. The midfielder had two goals, four assists, and 14 shots on target. Do bear in mind this club scored 26 goals total. Fernandes is only 20, so he still has a bright future in front of him. A future that will take him far away from Southampton.

It was a messy season for Spurs, even with the Europa League win. Heading into the season, Son Heung-Min would have been the favorite to be the club’s MVP, and he was quite good. He also missed time, though. This came down to Maddison and Brennan Johnson. Johnson led the way with 11 goals, but Maddison had nine goals as a midfielder, and he added seven assists. Plus, Maddison was fouled a whopping 64 times, compared to committing 32 of them. He ran the show from the midfield, and he was the MVP.

There was no question about Bowen being West Ham’s MVP once again. Both his 13 goals and eight assists led the Hammers. His 36 shots on target were also 16 more than anybody else on the club. It was something of a frustrating season for West Ham, but not for Bowen. He was a stellar attacking player once again.

Wolves managed to avoid relegation, so this can be more of a celebration. Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen were a dynamic duo at forward, even if they have decidedly different styles. Ultimately, though, Cunha was clearly better, if just a bit. His 15 goals were one more than Strand’s 14, and his six assists two more than his teammate’s four. Here’s a pretty striking difference, though. Cunha committed 40 fouls and was fouled 71 times. Strand committed 43 fouls…but somehow was only fouled 19 times. Yeah, Cunha’s impact was certainly a bit more positive.