The 2025/26 Premier League season has drawn to a close after 38 fascinating gameweeks.
Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a trophy when Manchester City failed to beat Bournemouth in Gameweek 37, Bournemouth secured European football for the first time in their 127-year history and newly-promoted side Sunderland cleared the relegation spots and qualified for the Europa League in a mightily impressive return to the top-flight.
We also bid farewell to Pep Guardiola, who leaves Manchester City after a decorated 10-year spell with the club.
Members of the bet365 news team debate who should be crowned Premier League Manager of the Year.
Regis Le Bris
From relegation candidates to European qualification, Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland have defied all odds on their return to the Premier League, writes Ellis Statham
Ellis Statham
Sunderland had all but secured a play-off spot with games still left to play in the 2024/25 Championship season, but a run of five consecutive second-flight losses to end the 46-game campaign planted a seed of doubt in the minds of Black Cats supporters as they approached a two-legged clash with Coventry City.
Almost as if the prior five defeats had never happened, Regis Le Bris’ side proved resilient in a 3-2 aggregate victory over the Sky Blues, before defeating Sheffield United 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to earn promotion to book their return to the Premier League after a nine-year absence.
Albeit the majority of Premier League viewers, barring Newcastle fans, were happy to see the Black Cats back in the big time, there was an overarching sense that they would make a swift return to the Championship due to the competitiveness of the top-flight.
There was also an expectancy that, of the three promoted sides, they would record the lowest finish; remember, both Leeds United and Burnley accumulated 100 points in the 2024/25 Championship season.
Sunderland had a reported outlay of €188.65m in the summer window and, while the likes of Granit Xhaka, Nordi Mukiele and Reinildo Mandava were undoubtedly strong additions, they were accused of falling into the same trap of Ipswich, who spent in excess of £100m prior to 2024/25 and were relegated with just 22 points.
Heading into the season as the favourites to get relegated, they were the undoubted underdogs to secure Premier League survival, let alone anything more.
Le Bris’ outfit matched the club’s best top-flight home start since 2000/01, enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light that included draws against Arsenal and Manchester City and wins over Newcastle United and Bournemouth.
The Black Cats were renowned for being a defensively sloid unit in the Championship, conceding the fourth fewest goals in the division in 2024/25, and they’ve proved similarly compact in the top-flight this term, a remarkable achievement given the defensive records of previously relegated Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton.
All three sides conceded in excess of 80 goals when facing the drop, while Sunderland have conceded just 48 (fewer than 2024/25 champions Liverpool) and their 11 clean sheets rank joint-fourth in the division.
A Tyne-Wear Derby defeat probably could have been forgiven after such an impressive return to the campaign, but Le Bris wasn’t going to let his side surrender their bragging rights after winning the Stadium of Light contest.
In beating Newcastle 2-1 at St James’ Park, Le Bris became only the second Sunderland manager after Gus Poyet to win each of his first two league meetings against their rivals.
The greatest compliment that you can pay Sunderland is that, if you were watching the 2025/26 season with no knowledge of who had been promoted the season prior, you’d suspect that they were an established Premier League side who hadn’t left the division in a number of years.
Avoiding relegation marks a major achievement after all three promoted clubs were relegated in each of the previous two Premier League seasons. Securing UEFA Europa League football with a nearly entirely new squad is a feat that should catapult the Frenchman to a seismic Manager of the Season award.
Unai Emery
Robbed of a nomination for the official manager of the season award, Unai Emery should be the front-runner after surpassing all expectations this campaign, writes Hayden Cottle
Hayden Cottle
Flashback to the final match of the 2024/25 season. Missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification due to a poor 2-0 defeat to Manchester United – exacerbated by one of the most controversial refereeing calls in Aston Villa’s recent history – Unai Emery’s rapid progression with the West Midlands outfit looked set to stutter.
Factor in an extremely poor summer window – which saw Emery’s side scrape together five signings for a combined £30m – and very few could have anticipated a positive season in B6.
In fact, not a single mainstream pundit included Aston Villa within their top seven heading into this season, with the majority of football youtubers, TikTokers and fans following suit.
On reflection, Aston Villa’s summer business has aged like milk.
Evann Guessand joined for £30m from Nice, scoring two goals before being loaned out to Crystal Palace in January, Marco Bizot joined for £400k as a back up goalkeeper, Viktor Lindelof – arguably one of the signings of the summer – moved from Manchester United on a free transfer and Jadon Sancho was a slightly successful loan signing from the Red Devils, though flattered to deceive for much of the season.
Not to mention the Harvey Elliott fiasco, which saw Emery go to war with now-former sporting director Monchi, essentially wasting a squad space and hefty wages for the entire season.
Alongside their issues with incomings, Villa’s summer was also plagued by the cloud of potential outgoings, with high profile players Emiliano Martinez, Ollie Watkins and Youri Tielemans linked with exits as late as deadline day.
The summer turmoil carried onto the field at the start of the campaign, with the Emery’s side netting their first goal of the season in matchweek five against Sunderland, in a match which saw them draw 1-1 against 10 men.
After their awful start to the season, few could have predicted that by May, UEFA Champions League football – and a first trophy in 30 years – would be returning to Villa Park.
Qualifying for Europe three years in a row has long been the glass ceiling for the non-big six teams, with West Ham, Wolves, Leicester City and others hitting three seasons in a row, before falling off. With all three of those teams looking set to have been relegated since.
The magnitude of Aston Villa and Unai Emery’s achievements this season cannot be overstated, as the Spaniard continues to help restore the sleeping West Midlands giants back to their former glory.
Especially when you consider that – as a result of UEFA and Premier League financial restrictions – the Aston Villa squad now is of a lower standard than the one which first achieved UCL qualification two years ago.
Though Unai Emery has single-handedly changed the perception and expectations both internally and externally at Villa Park, the historical significance and gravity of the achievements of the 2025/26 season should not be underestimated.
Andoni Iraola
Immense credit to Mikel Arteta, but there’s another Spaniard even more rewarding of the Manager of the Year award, writes Mark Mothershaw
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Mark Mothershaw
In typically modest Andoni Iraola fashion, the revered Spaniard hailed the ‘incredible achievement of his players’ after Bournemouth secured themselves a first ever venture into continental football next season.
A point in the Cherries' final home game of the season against Manchester City secured European football, while a final day stalemate at Nottingham Forest means they will be playing in the UEFA Europa League in 2026/27.
Iraola’s players deserve immense credit for their achievements, but make no mistake about it, the former Rayo Vallecano boss is the undoubted mastermind behind what has undoubtedly been their greatest ever campaign.
This is a football club that was on the brink of extinction not too long ago; supporters were being asked for their spare change to help keep South Coast side afloat, now they have potential trips to Paris, Barcelona and Milan to salivate over during the summer.
It’s a footballing fairytale that genuinely couldn’t have been dreamed up by even the most ardent and optimistic Bournemouth fan, but somehow, against all the odds, Iraola has established the top-flight minnows as legitimate footballing heavyweights.
Since being beaten by recently crowned Premier League champions Arsenal at the turn of the year, and selling star attacker Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City for around £65 million, the Cherries have embarked upon a sensational 18-game unbeaten run, dispelling the beliefs of many that they would struggle without their leading goalscorer.
Not once has Iraola stood in front of the media and made excuses or even attempted to temper expectations and hopes amongst his club’s small but loyal fanbase.
He could so easily have played down his side’s ambitions on the back of the departure of Semenyo four months ago, just as he could have done when the likes of Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez all bid farewell to the Vitality Stadium in pursuit of silverware at so called bigger clubs in pre-season.
But Iraola is seemingly cut from a different cloth to most. He’s a true genius, and one who constantly finds ways to adapt, irrespective of the situation he finds himself in.
Even more impressively, he rarely, if ever, veers away from the explosive, high-octane and exciting football that his teams have become synonymous with. Bournemouth are, without doubt, one of the most exciting teams to watch in the top-flight, and that’s all because of him.
In a season in which there are four or five viable candidates for this award, Iraola, for me, has done enough to be crowned winner.
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal beyond recognition; he deserves this head and shoulders above the rest, writes William Dobbie
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William Dobbie
In the week where the Gunners secured their first Premier League title in more than two decades, I think that it’s important to look back at where they were when Arteta first took the reigns at the Emirates.
The Spaniard took charge of his first game at the back end of 2019, making his first steps into management having previously served as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal hadn’t finished higher than fifth in the Premier League for three seasons – for context, the Gunners hadn’t finished outside the top four in more than 21 years prior to this – something that Arteta corrected two full seasons in charge.
It took time, but Arsenal, under Arteta’s guidance, established themselves amongst the Premier League’s elite yet again.
Three consecutive runner-up finishes, by far the best defensive record in the league and the highest accumulative points tally over a three season period followed, however, some still questioned Arteta.
Would he ever get Arsenal over the line?
This season was billed, by all, as the one where they simply had to win something.
And, Arsenal recruicted accordingly, something important to note as Arteta’s spending in North London surged past the £1bn mark.
But, as we have seen with Manchester United and Chelsea in recent years, spending money does not always guarantee success, it must be done with a strategy in mind.
Arteta has executed this strategy to a tee. No less than eight players arrived through the doors at London Colney last summer, adding much-needed depth to a squad that was being readied for a sustained challenge on multiple fronts.
It’s easy to forget the early goings on in the Premier League season when, in August alone, Arsenal had to face Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
A win, draw and a loss respectively represented a solid return from those three tough assignments but six wins from next seven games saw them ascend to the top of the league.
For all but one week after October, the Gunners would sit top of the tree, delivering consistent results, putting distance between themselves and their rivals.
Not good enough for some, the style in which Arsenal have played this season has drawn more attention than anything else surrounding the club. But, in the most competitive league in the world, finding a way to win on a consistent basis has to be the most impressive feather in a manager’s cap.
Yes, they have used set pieces. Yes, they can be direct at times. And yes, they will defend a lead when they get one.
However, there isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a “right” way to play in football and winning, especially at the elite level, is valued above all else.
Up until February, Arteta had his side fighting on four fronts, and it is simply unrealistic to expect flamboyant, free flowing attacking football as a means to sustain a high level of performance across relentless fixture list.
Gunners fans will get to see their team lift the Premier League trophy above their heads, and a lucky selection of them may see them do similar, but this time it could be the UEFA Champions League.
Arteta looks destined to become a revered coach and this season looks to be the first really meaningful step on that journey.
Keith Andrews
Keith Andrews has defied all expectations to secure a top half finish for Brentford, writes Jaquob Crooke
Jaquob Crooke
Dismissed and written off, Keith Andrews didn’t have a hope in the world according to critics.
How could a former set-piece coach, who was overlooked for a League Two job at MK Dons, succeed one of Brentford’s greatest managers in the Premier League?
Not to forget the Irishman would be inheriting a Brentford side that had lost 39 goals worth of talent in Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, an influential captain in Christian Norgaard and first choice goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
The Bees had moved early to acquire the highly sought services of Caoimhín Kelleher from Liverpool, but the capture of Ireland’s number one alone wasn’t going to keep Brentford up.
While pundits and onlookers had consigned the west London club to relegation before a ball had even been kicked, Andrews was quietly plotting something special, building on the sturdy foundations of his predecessor at a club that has strong core values and operates meticulously.
There have been the notable scalps of Manchester United and Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium, while a 1-0 away triumph at Villa Park – a notoriously unforgiving venue to go since Unai Emery’s arrival at Villa Park – was an occasion to cherish.
At stages of the campaign where it looked like the Bees could unravel, Andrews’ impressive leadership and motivational skills came to the fore. Brentford’s longest winless run this season was six matches, of which five were stalemates.
Tactically versatile, Andrews’ set-piece expertise has added another dimension to his team’s attack, especially from long throws. Thanks to Michael Kayode’s ability to launch the ball 60-plus metres, no team has scored more goals from long throws in the Premier League.
The 45-year-old also concocted a formula which has enabled Igor Thiago to flourish in attack and showcase his predatory instincts, with the Brazilian becoming the latest Bees frontman to net 20+ league goals in a season.
It’s testament to Andrews that Brentford are better than the sum of their parts and for that, he thoroughly deserves to be in the running for Manager of the Season.
