soccer

João Pedro named Chelsea Player of the Season for 2025-26

Yahoo Sports

Leading from the front!

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Joao Pedro of Chelsea poses for a photo after winning the Mens Player of the Season 2025/26 award prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on May 19, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) | Chelsea FC via Getty Images João Pedro was named Chelsea Player of the Season on Tuesday, collecting his award at last night’s game against Tottenham Hotspur, which he would otherwise unfortunately miss with an unspecified knock. The recognition came just hours after JP found out that he was surprisingly left off the Brazil squad for the World Cup.

But other than that baffling decision, it’s been a very good season for the 24-year-old, scoring 20 goals across all competitions and notching 20 goal involvements (15+5) in the Premier League. He’s the first striker to reach the 20-goal mark for us since Diego Costa in 2017 and is the first striker to be named out Player of the Season since Didier Drogba in 2010. JP’s the third Brazilian to win the award, following Willian (2016) and Thiago Silva (2023), and is the eighth different recipient in the last nine years (Mason Mount the only one to win it more than once since 2018).

So, congrats, João! Here’s to many more seasons of many more goals! (For what it’s worth, the WAGNH Player of the Season, based on your Community Player Ratings votes after each and every game, is set to be Reece James, with JP and last year’s recipient, Moisés Caicedo battling it out for the runner-up spot.

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