The Professional Footballers’ Association (the trade union for players) has announced the nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. Although the award itself won’t be handed out until 19th August 2025, we thought it was a good opportunity to take a look at the six players who could develop into true superstars of the game. We’ll give details of their key stats from the 2024/25 season and assess whether they are lined up for greatness.
Liam Delap
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James Cracknell via Wikipedia Team – Chelsea (though played for Ipswich in 2024/25)
- Position – Centre forward
- Appearances – 40
- Goals – 12
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It’s never easy playing for a side that’s struggling, but Liam Delap shone in the 2024/25 campaign despite his Ipswich Town side doing anything but. The Tractor Boys only managed four Premier League victories all season, and mustered just 36 league goals, with Delap bagging a third of them! The former Man City man showed enough of his talent during a tough season to convince Chelsea to splash around £30m to sign him. He should get much better service at his new club and we think it won’t be long before he moves up from England U21s to make his full senior England debut.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
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WorldWide1z via Wikipedia Team – Arsenal
- Position – Midfielder, left-back
- Appearances – 39
- Goals – 1
Having already broken into the England set-up, and even having grabbed a goal for the Three Lions (in the 2-0 World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley in March 2025), Myles Lewis-Skelly’s future looks bright indeed. The 18-year-old signed for Arsenal as an eight-year-old and this season Mikel Arteta gave him his chance in the first team. Including his debut against Man City back in September 2024, he’s made 39 appearances and looked mature beyond his years, both domestically and when playing in this season’s Champions League for the Gunners. He is a real talent, although some doubts remain over the number of red cards he collected.
Milos Kerkez
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AFC Bournemouth via Wikipedia Team – Bournemouth
- Position – Left back, left wing-back
- Appearances – 41
- Goals – 2
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Born in Serbia, Milos Kerkez represents Hungary at international level (he had the choice of the two), but it has been his form for Bournemouth that encouraged the PFA to shortlist him for the Young Player of the Year award. The 21-year-old has been consistently excellent and as well as his calm and measured defending, he’s helped out in attack too, notably supplying both assists in his side’s surprise 2-1 victory over Man City in November 2024. He is expected to sign for Liverpool anytime soon as a long-term replacement for Andy Robertson.
Dean Huijsen
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AFC Bournemouth via Wikipedia Team – Real Madrid (though played for Bournemouth in 2024/25)
- Position – Centre back
- Appearances – 36
- Goals – 3
Another player who performed fantastically well for Bournemouth, Dean Huijsen has since been signed by Real Madrid, no less. He became a Spanish citizen in 2024 (his family moved there from Netherlands when he five years old) and broke into the Spanish national side in 2025, despite having represented his birth nation of Netherlands at various youth levels. A tall and powerful defender, Huijsen is an intelligent player who contributes a few goals here and there and passes the ball superbly. Now he’s at Real Madrid, he has a better chance than most on this shortlist to become a real superstar.
Ethan Nwaneri
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WorldWide1z via Wikipedia Team – Arsenal
- Position – Winger, attacking midfielder
- Appearances – 37
- Goals – 9
Another shortlisted player from Arsenal, like Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri joined the Gunners as an eight-year-old and has worked his way into Arteta’s plans. He made his Premier League debut back in 2022/23, but has had to wait until the season just finished to get a sustained run in the first team. His versatility in attack gives the manager plenty of options as Nwaneri can play on either flank or down the middle. This versatility is sure to be utilised by England too at some point in the not-too-distant future. This was a breakout season for him and few have scored as many goals in the senior football at such a young age.
Morgan Rogers
8️⃣ goals and 9️⃣ assists so far in his first full Premier League campaign
Vote for Morgz as the PL’s Young Player of the Season ⬇️
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 15, 2025
- Team – Aston Villa
- Position – Attacking midfielder
- Appearances – 54
- Goals – 14
It’s been a long season for Morgan Rogers, who has made a whopping 54 appearances for Villa in all competitions during the 2024/25 campaign. The 22-year-old has a similar level of versatility to Nwaneri, and contributed eight goals in 37 Premier League matches. He made his senior England debut in November 2024, and we fully expect him to build on his current haul of six caps.
Past Winners of the PFA Young Player of the Year Award
Looking back through the players who’ve won this award in the past is like reading a who’s who of English top-flight football over the past few decades. First presented in 1973/74, there are so many great players who made the grade. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Harry Kane are just a few who went on to do great things. Will the winner of this year’s award do likewise? Time will tell.
Here’s the full list of past winners:
- Cole Palmer – Chelsea
- Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
- Phil Foden (twice) – Manchester City
- Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool
- Raheem Sterling – Manchester City
- Leroy Sané – Manchester City
- Dele Alli (twice) – Tottenham Hotspur
- Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur
- Eden Hazard – Chelsea
- Gareth Bale – Tottenham Hotspur
- Kyle Walker – Tottenham Hotspur
- Jack Wilshere – Arsenal
- James Milner – Aston Villa
- Ashley Young – Aston Villa
- Cesc Fàbregas – Arsenal
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
- Wayne Rooney (twice) – Manchester United
- Scott Parker – Chelsea
- Jermaine Jenas – Newcastle United
- Craig Bellamy – Newcastle United
- Steven Gerrard – Liverpool
- Harry Kewell – Leeds United
- Nicolas Anelka – Arsenal
- Michael Owen – Liverpool
- David Beckham – Manchester United
- Robbie Fowler (twice) – Liverpool
- Andy Cole – Manchester United
- Ryan Giggs (twice) – Manchester United
- Lee Sharpe – Manchester United
- Matt Le Tissier – Southampton
- Paul Merson – Arsenal
- Paul Gascoigne – Newcastle United
- Tony Adams – Arsenal
- Tony Cottee – West Ham United
- Mark Hughes – Manchester United
- Paul Walsh – Luton Town
- Ian Rush – Liverpool
- Steve Moran – Southampton
- Gary Shaw – Aston Villa
- Glenn Hoddle – Tottenham Hotspur
- Cyrille Regis – West Bromwich Albion
- Tony Woodcock – Nottingham Forest
- Andy Gray – Aston Villa
- Peter Barnes – Manchester City
- Mervyn Day – West Ham United
- Kevin Beattie – Ipswich Town
Not bad company to keep, eh?