The 2024-25 Premier League has come to an end with many players looking forward to their summer holidays before it all starts again on August 15.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool stormed the league title – the 20th in their history – in his first season in charge.
Arsenal finished runners-up for the third season in a row with Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle completing the top-five Champions League spots.
Shockingly, Tottenham finished in 17th but will also compete in the Champions League, courtesy of their Europa League victory that broke their 17-year wait for a trophy.
Aston Villa were controversially denied a potential spot in the Champions League on the last day of the season, with the Villains forced to settle for Europa League qualification.
Elsewhere, in a monumental season, Nottingham Forest narrowly missed out on the Champions League, finishing seventh and earning a place in next season’s Conference League.
Liverpool won the Premier League for just the second time in Arne Slot’s first season in charge
Nottingham Forest enjoyed an impressive campaign but narrowly missed out on the top five
For the second year in a row, the three promoted sides went straight back to the Championship
And for successive seasons, all three promoted sides were sent straight back down to the Championship.
With the curtains closed on the 2024-25 campaign, Mail Sport hands out its end-of-season awards.
Best Signing — Dean Huijsen
When a 19-year-old centre back joined Bournemouth for £12.6million before the start of the 2024-25 campaign, no one could have predicted that he would find himself signing for Real Madrid in a £50m deal a year later.
Dean Huijsen moved to the Cherries from Juventus and was originally the back-up centre-back to Illia Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi.
After the latter’s early season injury, Huijsen broke onto the scene and soon became an integral part of Andoni Iraola’s rearguard.
The Spaniard sits in the top 10 for most clearances (194) and interceptions (51) in the Premier League and chipped in with three goals and two assists.
As a reward for his amazing breakout season, Huijsen won his first caps for the Spanish national team, highlighting his exciting future.
Sniped for a bargain, Huijsen has by far been the best signing in the league this season, turning Bournemouth a sizeable profit through their sale to Los Blancos.
Dean Huijsen was so impressive at Bournemouth that he earned a £50m move to Real Madrid
Worst Signing — Joao Felix
Perhaps one of the strangest football stories in recent memory, Joao Felix has struggled since his £114m move to Atletico Madrid from Benfica in 2019.
After failing to replicate his form in the Spanish capital, Felix was loaned out to Chelsea then Barcelona before the Blues signed him for £43m last summer.
The 25-year-old scored just once in the league before he was sent out to AC Milan on a temporary spell during the January transfer window.
But, again, Felix failed to impress, scoring just twice in 15 Serie A appearances for the Rossoneri.
Signed on a seven-year deal, the Portuguese forward was brought in as part of Chelsea’s long-term project, but the move seems bizarre and costly given his glaring inconsistency.
He’s shown glimpses of his potential but has never fulfilled his early promise from the start of his career at Benfica.
Chelsea splashed out £43m for Joao Felix but the Portuguese’s career has continued to stall
Overachiever — Nottingham Forest
It’s been quite the season for Nottingham Forest who have been the surprise package of the campaign, going from battling relegation to qualifying for Europe in the space of 12 months.
After managing to stay up after an arduous campaign in the 2023-24 season, Forest’s transfer strategy and team spirit inspired the club to reach highs that the fans haven’t witnessed for decades.
Forest sat as high as third in the league for a large bulk of the season, just tailing off at the end to miss out on Champions League football.
Chris Wood’s 20 Premier League goals were a big contributor to Forest’s success as well as the tight rearguard which kept 13 clean sheets — only bettered by Liverpool’s 14 — with Matz Sels sharing the Golden Glove with Arsenal’s David Raya.
This season will live long in the memories of the Forest faithful with the club securing 65 points, their best tally since the 1994-95 season.
Biggest Flop — Manchester United
An appalling season for the most successful Premier League club in history.
After winning the FA Cup at the end of the 2023-24 season, Erik ten Hag’s underwhelming tenure had been replaced by a sense of optimism as he extended his contract to 2026.
Yet, after nine games of the 2024-25 campaign, picking up just 11 points, the Dutchman was shown the door.
He was replaced by the promising Ruben Amorim who had won the Portuguese title at Sporting Lisbon.
Amorim was tipped to be the manager United needed to bring back the glory days, the sixth permanent appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Amorim did little to improve the situation at Old Trafford as he led the side to a 15th place finish in the league, with 18 defeats. He was also denied European glory when the club were defeated 1-0 by fellow Premier League strugglers in the Europa League final.
Now, with a full summer ahead of him and no European football, the Portuguese can turn his focus to instilling his style and bringing in his own players in a bid to drastically improve after this woeful campaign.
Ruben Amorim joined Man United in November but was unable to halt the Red Devils’ decline
Young Player of the Year — Morgan Rogers
Morgan Rogers has impressed in his first full season for the Villains, becoming a key player for Unai Emery’s side.
The 22-year-old joined from Middlesbrough in February 2024 and showed flashes of brilliance towards the end of that season.
But with a more regular role this time around, Rogers has been integral, playing in 37 of 38 league matches.
The Man City academy product notched eight goals and added 10 assists in the league, form that has seen his earn four England caps.
City seem to have developed a trend of letting go of their youth players too soon, such as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. Rogers has now joined that unwanted list for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Morgan Rogers missed just one league game for Aston Villa and chipped in with eight goals
Manager of the Year — Nuno Espirito Santo
When Nuno Espirito Santo took over from Steve Cooper in December 2023, Forest were 17th in the Premier League table and in danger of relegation to the Championship.
The former goalkeeper led Forest to safety, beating the drop by six points.
After a summer to instil his philosophy and bring in the players he wanted to play his system, the former Tottenham and Wolves boss took his side to the next level in the 2024-25 season.
He turned Nottingham Forest into a clinical counter-attacking side with a resolute defence and strong team spirit.
Nottingham Forest may have missed out on Champions League football but it was a stellar season for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side who had been battling relegation just 12 months earlier
Forest sat as high as third in the league for around half of the season, with many tipping them for Champions League football.
Injuries to Chris Wood, Murillo and Callum Hudson-Odoi disrupted their rhythm, but a seventh-place finish for a team who were previously stuck in a relegation battle is quite remarkable.
While some fans will be quick to point out that Nuno did not win anything this season, unlike Slot, the Portuguese has managed to completely turnaround Forest’s fortunes.
Now, the question will be whether he can consolidate their newfound status in the 2025-26 campaign, especially while balancing European and domestic football.
