Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has been crowned the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) men’s player of the year, while Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers collected the young player of the year prize in a night celebrating the best of English football.
Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate was also honoured, receiving the PFA merit award for his contributions to the game and his leadership with the national side.
For Salah, 33, the accolade marks a historic third win, making him the first player ever to achieve the feat. The Egyptian forward was instrumental in Liverpool’s title-winning campaign last season, finishing as the Premier League’s top scorer with 29 goals and adding 18 assists.
Speaking about his journey from Egypt to global stardom, Salah reflected: “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 see the bigger picture.”
Salah, who also claimed the 2024-25 Premier League player of the season award and was named the Football Writers’ Association footballer of the year, beat off competition from Liverpool team-mate Alexis Mac Allister, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
The young player award went to Morgan Rogers after a breakthrough campaign with Aston Villa. Signed from Middlesbrough for £15m in February 2024, the 23-year-old quickly became a key figure under Unai Emery, scoring 14 goals in 54 appearances across all competitions. His performances helped Villa secure a sixth-place Premier League finish, a Champions League quarter-final spot, and an FA Cup semi-final run. Rogers also earned his first senior England call-up last November, winning six caps since his debut against Greece.
Reflecting on the recognition, Rogers said: “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. It’s a nice recognition but there’s more to win and I can’t wait.”
The award continues an English dominance in the young player category, with Rogers becoming the seventh successive homegrown winner and the fifth Villa representative to claim the honour.
Elsewhere, James Trafford, now of Manchester City, was named Championship player of the year after keeping 29 clean sheets to guide Burnley to automatic promotion. In League One, Richard Kone, now at Queens Park Rangers, earned the top award for his 18-goal season with Wycombe. Bromley’s Michael Cheek took the League Two prize after claiming the Golden Boot with 25 goals.
