ROLL out the red carpet and pop the champagne, it’s time for Dream Team’s end-of-season awards!
We’ve got eight gongs to dish out in total so let’s crack on.
Dream TeamA round of applause for our winners[/caption]
BEST NEWCOMER
Our first award goes to the most impactful new addition and so only players who graced Dream Team for the first time this season are eligible.
A mention for Noussair Mazraoui who, despite Manchester United’s woes, will finish the campaign as the sixth-best defender.
The Morocco international got through a mountain of defensive work, making 177 tackles in all competitions – the highest tally among all players.
For a while it seemed as if Marco Asensio would claim this award as he scored eight goals in the space of seven games soon after agreeing a loan move to Aston Villa in January.
Unfortunately, the Spaniard’s points dried up in the last two months of the season.
And so our winner is Omar Marmoush!
Man City’s expensive January acquisition frustrated Dream Team bosses in the FA Cup final but he’s otherwise impressed with eight goals and three assists at a rate of one goal involvement every 141.4 minutes since his transfer from Frankfurt.
The Egyptian forward finishes the season with an average of 6.3 points-per-game and there’s a feeling he could rack up big numbers in 2025/26.
WINNER: OMAR MARMOUSH
GettyA welcome addition to Dream Team[/caption]
SURPRISE PACKAGE
Several players made our shortlist for this one with Jacob Murphy, Brennan Johnson and Chris Wood all having performed well above expectations.
It would be fitting to give the award to a Nottingham Forest representative given their transformation from relegation battlers to Champions League hopefuls but there can only be one winner in the grand scheme of things.
Daniel Munoz was the only defender who earned 300+ points this term, beating the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Josko Gvardiol, Pedro Porro and Virgil van Dijk to top the rankings in his position.
This is an extraordinary achievement given Crystal Palace did not have European commitments to bolster their schedule.
The Colombian wing-back was a beast in defence (17 clean sheets, 152 tackles) and a huge threat in attack (six goals, eight assists).
It will be very interesting to see how he goes next season.
WINNER: DANIEL MUNOZ
AlamyAn unexpected Dream Team superstar[/caption]
BEST VALUE-FOR-MONEY
Munoz could have easily scooped this award too but we’ve decided to recognise the efforts of Morgan Rogers to share the love around.
Having been a bit-part player in 2023/24, the ex-Middlesbrough midfielder established himself as one of Unai Emery’s most trusted assets from the get-go this season.
Rogers started the season at just £2.5m and was available even cheaper than that after a relatively slow start but he quickly became a fantastic enabler.
Once he started converting his talent into points, he essentially became a must-have player as his bargain price allowed for heavy investment into the likes of Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Mohamed Salah.
When all was said and done, Rogers racked up 318 points via 14 goals and 16 assists to finish as Dream Team’s fourth-best midfielder.
He certainly won’t start at £2.5m next season!
WINNER: MORGAN ROGERS
RexWhat a bargain![/caption]
MOST OVERLOOKED
This award goes to the player who, no matter how hard they tried, simply couldn’t convince Dream Team managers they were worthy of a place in a competitive XI.
For whatever reason, several players went overlooked by the vast majority of gaffers for months on end despite their undeniably impressive returns.
Youri Tielemans spent most of the season among the highest ranked midfielders (thanks to his sizeable bonus point count) but his ownership remained modest throughout – perhaps because the aforementioned Rogers covered Villa’s fixtures nicely.
Elsewhere, only six players averaged more points-per-game than Jarrod Bowen (7.7) but most Dream Team bosses flat out refused to entertain the idea of recruiting anyone associated with West Ham.
Our winner, however, is none other than Matheus Cunha.
Granted, the Brazilian’s disciplinary troubles were a concern but even when he was available and at his swaggering best, approximately 97% of gaffers were happy to go without him.
Only Salah and Haaland averaged more points-per-game than Cunha in 2024/25 – an incredible statistic.
One suspects he will appear in many, many more teams when he joins Manchester United.
WINNER: MATHEUS CUNHA
AFPUnderutilised[/caption]
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
This award recognises a standout individual who thrived in Dream Team despite the broader failings of their team.
The aforementioned Cunha and Bowen were among the nominees, as were several Tottenham players before victory in the Europa League final changed the entire complexion of their season.
But Bruno Fernandes is clearly the most deserving winner.
The Portuguese playmaker amassed 443 points (only Salah earned more) via 19 goals and 20 assists while representing a team that ultimately finished 15th in the league and no trophies to show for their extracurricular activities.
Where would the Red Devils be without him?
WINNER: BRUNO FERNANDES
A one-man team at timesShutterstock
THE BREXIT AWARD
To qualify for the Brexit award, players must have nothing to do with Europe.
In other words, only those who did not participate in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League are eligible.
Once again, Munoz is in the conversation but three players earned even more points than Palace’s wing-back without European fixtures: Eberechi Eze, Bryan Mbeumo and Alexander Isak.
Newcastle’s star striker notched the most points (340) of the lot having scored 27 goals but given the spirit of the award is about defying schedule disadvantages, we believe Brentford’s talisman is most worthy.
Whereas Isak and Eze benefited from domestic cup successes, Mbeumo was limited to just three Carabao Cup outings and one FA Cup appearance.
The Cameroon international was phenomenal in the Premier League all season long.
Depending what Palmer does in the Conference League final, Mbeumo will either finish second or third among Dream Team midfielders – an outstanding effort.
WINNER: BRYAN MBEUMO
GettyPremier League specialist[/caption]
BIGGEST FLOP
Generally, we prefer to celebrate the most successful players but it would be remiss to ignore the darker side of Dream Team altogether.
Emile Smith Rowe was initially among the most popular midfielders in the game following his transfer from Arsenal to Fulham but the 24-year-old delivered just 135 points overall, fewer than Bilal El Khannouss, Lewis Cook and Adama Traore.
During his heyday, Raheem Sterling once finished as Dream Team’s top performer for the season but he scored just one goal for Arsenal in 2024/25 and has become a punchline among the Emirates faithful.
Elsewhere, Darwin Nunez conspired to average just 3.6 points-per-game while representing the best team in the country.
However, the most disappointing element in Dream Team this season was the severe drop-off of Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side recovered to finish third in the league but as a collective they provided far fewer points than gaffers have come to expect.
Erling Haaland and Josko Gvardiol were worthy of their popularity but it says a lot that Phil Foden was City’s third-highest points scorer as most would agree the England international was under par this season.
The FA Cup finalists conceded 71 goals in all competitions, severely damaging the viability of their defensive assets.
In fact, Gvardiol was the only City defender in the top 30, a far cry from previous seasons.
WINNER: MAN CITY’S DEFENCE (EXCLUDING GVARDIOL)
ReutersA rare trophyless season for Guardiola[/caption]
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (MVP)
We finish with the most prestigious award and the most clearcut winner.
Mohamed Salah was already a Dream Team legend but this season he reached an otherworldly level.
When Liverpool’s hero equalised against Brighton in Gameweek 37, he made it 57 goal involvements for the campaign in all competitions!
This obscene tally was the primary reason he ended as a quintuple centurion, with 503 points to his name to be exact – Bruno Fernandes was the only other player to achieve 400+ points.
Simply put, Salah was in a league of his own.
WINNER: MOHAMED SALAH
AlamyDifferent gravy[/caption]
Who knows what starting price the Egyptian superstar deserves in 2025/26…
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