Updated: 21 May 2026 16:55 BST |
7 min read
The 2025-26 Premier League season is almost over and it has been another chaotic year in the most popular division in world football.
Arsenal have won the title, Bournemouth could qualify for the Champions League, while Chelsea may still finish in the bottom-half for the second time in four years under their BlueCo owners.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through five winners and five losers from the 2025-26 Premier League season.
Winner: Bournemouth
After selling Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Ilya Zabarnyi and Dango Ouattara last summer, many expected Bournemouth’s rapid improvement under Andoni Iraola to end, and this view was exacerbated following Antoine Semenyo’s move to Manchester City in January.
However, the Cherries have enjoyed their best ever Premier League season and they head into the final matchday with a chance of securing Champions League football for next year.
Iraola, who will leave the club this summer, deserves huge credit for his monumental impact at the Vitality Stadium, while the recruitment team also nailed Bournemouth’s business last summer.
Regardless of their final position in the table, it’s been a fantastic campaign for Bournemouth and a club-record 16-game unbeaten run is not to be sniffed at.
Loser: Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur are now expected to stay up this season by the skin of their teeth, following a slight upturn in results under Roberto De Zerbi, but it’s still been a truly dismal campaign.
For the second year running, Spurs have been one of the worst teams in the Premier League and they could finish 17th in back-to-back seasons, which is truly abhorrent for a team with their resources and financial muscle.
The mid-season appointment of Igor Tudor was an absolute disaster and they may well struggle to attract top talent in the upcoming summer transfer window as a result of their slide over the past 18 months.
Injuries have played a part in their woes this term, of course, but 2025-26 has been a major disappointment.
Winner: Igor Thiago
Brentford, and their data-driven recruitment process, have an uncanny knack of helping strikers score bucketloads of goals. First it was Neal Maupay, then Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and now Igor Thiago.
The Brazilian only made eight appearances during his debut season at the Bees last year, due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, but he has been in mesmeric form this season.
Only Erling Haaland has scored more than Thiago’s 22 Premier League goals this season and his form has earned him an inclusion in Brazil’s squad for the 2026 World Cup, ahead of Chelsea striker Joao Pedro.
Several top Premier League clubs are believed to be monitoring a possible move for Thiago and he could be the next Brentford forward to earn a big-money move this summer.
Loser: Liam Rosenior
After just 18 months at Strasbourg, Liam Rosenior was thrown in at the deep end following Chelsea’s decision to part ways with Enzo Maresca in January.
The Englishman was still vastly inexperienced, but BlueCo were confident in his ability to step up to life at Chelsea, and his first month at the club was surprisingly successful – with seven wins in his first nine matches and the only blemishes against Arsenal.
However, form soon turned and after five consecutive Premier League matches without scoring a single goal, Rosenior was sacked in April after just 106 days in charge, with Chelsea down in seventh place.
His reputation as a promising young coach has undoubtedly been damaged and he has paid the price for being promoted from Strasbourg to Chelsea too soon.
Winner: Arsenal
Arsenal won their first Premier League title since 2004, with Mikel Arteta ending the club’s lengthy trophy drought.
The Spaniard has transformed Arsenal since his appointment back in 2019 and they were crowned champions after Manchester City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth on Tuesday, while they still have the Champions League final to come.
The Gunners fixed several key issues in their squad in the transfer market last summer and with the best defensive unit in Europe and immense potency from set-pieces, they find themselves confirmed as league winners heading into the final day this weekend.
Many have criticised Arsenal’s lack of efficiency from open-play, but they have navigated the 2025-26 Premier League season in superb fashion and they are now champions of England.
Loser: VAR
VAR has unfortunately played a key role this season and the number of errors made in 2025-26 is staggering considering the technology at referees’ disposal.
The time taken to analyse decisions remains a crucial issue with VAR, as does the lack of consistency. Kai Havertz, for example, stayed on the pitch after a studs-up challenge on Lesley Ugochukwu for Arsenal against Burnley, while Xavi Simons was sent off for a very similar incident versus Virgil van Dijk for Tottenham Hotspur versus Liverpool.
Large swathes of fans, pundits and those in the media are keen for VAR to be scrapped entirely, with huge time wasted, supporters in the stadium left uninformed and decisions frequently wrong, or at least subjective.
It’s been a bad season for VAR and it’s had a direct impact on the title race, too.
Winner: Michael Carrick
When Ruben Amorim was sacked by Man Utd, the club were sixth in the Premier League. They will end the season with a third-place finish – their joint-best since 2020-21 – thanks to the work of interim boss Michael Carrick.
Amorim failed to qualify for European football of any kind last year, which may have helped their Premier League fortunes this term, but Carrick has delivered Man Utd back into the Champions League.
He has guided the club back towards where they feel they belong and he is set to be appointed on a permanent basis following a stellar caretaker stint.
Carrick’s reputation as a coach was certainly harmed following a tough end to his time at Middlesbrough, but he is expected to become the new Man Utd manager, something he fully deserves after the club’s recent form.
Loser: Newcastle
Newcastle United’s 2025 summer transfer window was a complete disaster and it’s led to an extremely disappointing season.
With star man Alexander Isak sold to Liverpool for a Premier League record fee, the tools were there for the Magpies to redistribute those funds to build a squad capable of once again challenging for Europe.
However, the signings of Yoane Wissa, Nick Woltemade and Anthony Elanga have all been huge failures and Newcastle will finish the season with more defeats than wins in the Premier League.
Furthermore, their disappointing campaign has led to significant rumours suggesting that Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Valentino Livramento could all leave St James’ Park this summer.
Winner: Leeds
Leeds United secured promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking last year, but they were widely tipped to suffer relegation straight back down to the Championship.
However, thanks to several smart signings and a formation change from Daniel Farke, who was under pressure during the early months of the campaign, they are well clear of the bottom-three ahead of the final matchday.
An excellent home record has played a key role in their survival and thanks to their recent upturn in form, Leeds could finish 10 points clear of relegation, which is a massive achievement for the club.
Farke had his doubters coming into the season, but he has performed admirably at Elland Road, as have summer signings such as Anton Stach, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, James Justin and Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Loser: James Trafford
When James Trafford chose to rejoin Man City last summer, rather than complete a move to Newcastle, he expected to become their new number one goalkeeper.
Ederson was set to leave and, sure enough, he started their first three Premier League matches of the season. However, Pep Guardiola’s side completed the signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma on Deadline Day and Trafford was cast aside shortly afterwards.
The Italian has started all 33 league games since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, with Trafford resigned to being an unused substitute, despite his enormous talent.
He has sat on the sidelines for an entire year and he’s set to miss out on the consolidation of a Premier League winners medal too, with Arsenal expected to lift the trophy on Sunday.
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