The Athletic’s end-of-season awards, 2023-24: Men’s football

With the Premier League season complete and Europe’s other major leagues either finished or winding down, it is time to reflect on 2023-24.

Our team of writers, analysts and experts have been busy submitting their votes for The Athletic’s end-of-season awards. These cover the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, and this year we also some have Europe-wide awards.

Our women’s football awards have been announced, too, but here, let’s reveal the winners in the men’s game…

🏆 The Athletic FC end-of-season awards, 2023-24 🏆

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Premier League Player of the Season: Rodri (Manchester City)

There has to be one simple logic behind Rodri winning our Player of the Season award: he is the most important player in the best team. There is normally more to quirky football stats than meets the eye but some are pretty clear-cut: City have not lost a game in normal time for more than 70 matches with Rodri in the team, and this season they lost three of the four league games he missed.

GO DEEPER

A celebration of Rodri, as he goes 50 Premier League games without suffering defeat

He wins headers, mops up loose balls, takes the ball under pressure, switches play and now adds firepower, with eight goals and nine assists in the league. He was already the main man but this season he has gone to another level, and City cannot do without him.

Sam Lee

Here is what Manchester City midfielder Rodri had to say after he was awarded The Athletic's Premier League Player of the Season for 2023/24.#MCFC pic.twitter.com/bIVNsKowH1

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 21, 2024

Premier League Young Player of the Season: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

Cole Palmer deserves the accolade on stats alone. He finished second in the Premier League’s Golden Boot charts (22 goals) and was second in the league for assists (11), giving him the most goal involvements (33, one ahead of Ollie Watkins and Erling Haaland) — some achievement for his first season of regular first-team football.

But this sport is not just about numbers. Palmer can stroke a pass or perform a trick that gets people off their seats at home, let alone at the match. The 22-year-old is one of those players you enjoy watching no matter who you support.

Simon Johnson

Breaking down Cole Palmer’s astonishing season at Chelsea

Premier League Team of the Season

Emiliano Martinez setting a Premier League goalkeeper record for career own goals (with three) should not detract from the key role he played in guiding Aston Villa into the Champions League.

Three Arsenal defenders might seem like overkill until you remember they have let in only nine goals since the turn of the year, and in the Premier League’s highest-scoring season, too. Tottenham Hotspur’s Destiny Udogie completes the back four — he was one of the players to benefit most from Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as head coach.

A midfield of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Rodri would terrify any opponent. They had a combined total of 23 goals, 27 assists and 202 tackles between them in the 2023-24 season, while Rodri virtually created this season’s title race by getting suspended in the autumn and making Manchester City much more vulnerable to defeat.

Palmer is just the third Chelsea player to score at least 20 goals and provide at least 10 assists in a Premier League season, after Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. He is joined in attack by Phil Foden, only the third player to score 50 top-flight goals under Pep Guardiola aged 23 or younger (after Lionel Messi and Haaland), as well as Watkins, who emulated Dwight Yorke (1995-96) by reaching 25 goals in one season across all competitions for Aston Villa. Historic achievements by three players who should all represent England at this summer’s European Championship.

Duncan Alexander

How to follow Euro 2024 and Copa America on The Athletic…

Premier League Goal of the Season: Alejandro Garnacho, for Manchester United vs Everton

Aleandro Garnacho’s overhead kick against Everton stunned everyone at Goodison Park in late November through its combination of audacious acrobatics and devastating footwork.

No one expected a brilliant goal to be scored only three minutes after kick-off — not least the Manchester United winger himself, who made a ‘too hot’ gesture with his hands once he realised what he had done.

There have been plenty of brilliant goals this season, but none come close to this one.

Carl Anka

Insiders Signing of the Season: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

Not many players can claim to have had such a significant impact at a new club as Palmer. Yes, Rice has been brilliant for Arsenal and almost took them to the title, but Palmer went from being unable to find regular playing time at Manchester City to being the league’s most creative player in the final third. Chelsea have spent lavishly on a long list of players but at £42.5m ($50.7m), the 22-year-old looks like the best bit of business of the post-Roman Abramovich era.

This award was voted for by members of The Athletic’s Insiders WhatsApp group. You can find out more here.

European Men’s Player of the Season: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

The bare statistics are impressive enough — 19 goals and six assists in La Liga, four goals and four assists in the Champions League — but for Jude Bellingham to do it at the age of 20, in an advanced midfield role, in your first season at the biggest club in world football, is astonishing.

There is certainly an argument that Vinicius Junior has been more influential and decisive in the Champions League knockout stages but what Bellingham has done this season, including the two stoppage-time winners against Barcelona, really is remarkable.

GO DEEPER

The joy of watching Bellingham and Vinicius Jr fight it out for the Ballon d'Or

At Borussia Dortmund, he had a platform to develop his talent and become one of the game’s rising stars. At Real Madrid, he has already shown he belongs on football’s biggest stage.

Oliver Kay

European Men’s Young Player of the Season: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

Err, see above.

European Men’s Manager of the Season: Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen)

The challenge is searching for something new to say; praise for Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen has been easy to find all season as they blew away Bayern Munich to become German champions and put together an unbeaten league campaign.

Perhaps this is an opportunity to pause for thought: at the heart of this season’s success has been the contribution of unlikely Leverkusen players, or those on the fringes of the squad. Whenever Alonso has needed a quality performance, someone — whether it was Nathan Tella, Josip Stanisic, Robert Andrich, or another — has been provided.

GO DEEPER

Xabi Alonso, the coach who said no to Liverpool and Bayern Munich

It’s a subtle quality but a vital one and perhaps nothing speaks to Alonso’s managerial qualities — or to why he’s so deserving of this award — quite like his ability to wring the absolute most from his group of players.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

European Men’s Team of the Season

Yann Sommer has had one of the best shot-stopping seasons of his career, and would be almost invincible with the strength and guile of centre-backs William Saliba and Antonio Rudiger in front of him. Throw in the defensive awareness and metronomic control from Rodri in midfield, and there is no one you would prefer to protect the back line.

Bayer Leverkusen’s flying wing-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo have to come as a pair on the flanks, while team-mate Florian Wirtz has been instrumental in pulling the creative strings since the first day of Leverkusen’s historic season.

England fans can be encouraged by the form of Bellingham, Foden and Harry Kane — the three of them have registered a total of 74 goals and 22 assists in their leagues this season.

Finally, Kylian Mbappe is never far from the headlines but 1.1 goals per 90 minutes across a whole season is a ludicrous return, and rightly deserving of a place in Europe’s best XI this season.

Mark Carey

Hipster team of the season

If you are doing a Hipster XI of the Season, you need a goalkeeper who not only knows how to play with his feet, but is also an able shot-stopper. Las Palmas’ Alvaro Valles has been instrumental to his side’s possession game — playing his part in the build-up phase, finding his team-mates in space with line-breaking passes, and comfortable in terms of sweeping behind the defence. As for protecting his goal, his 8.4 ‘goals prevented’ is the third-best in La Liga this season.

Frimpong and Grimaldo have been vital to Bayer Leverkusen’s journey towards an unprecedented ‘invincible’ treble. This line-up works with a back four, but their inclusion was a no-brainer. Between them, Leny Yoro and Riccardo Calafiori’s impressive seasons with Lille and Bologna deserve the nomination too.

In midfield, Girona’s Aleix Garcia features in a deep-lying-midfield role, with his ball-striking and tempo-setting abilities key to his team’s Champions League qualification this season. Leverkusen’s Wirtz and Bologna’s Lewis Ferguson complete the midfield trio. The Scotland international’s defensive efforts are complemented by his spatial awareness and presence in the opponent’s box. Meanwhile, Wirtz’s technical abilities make him a threat between the lines, which has been on display this season as the Germany forward has been enjoying his most prolific campaign, with 18 goals and 20 assists in all competitions.

Up top, Romain Del Castillo has been the centre-point of Brest’s attack with eight goals and eight assists as Eric Roy’s side has secured European football for the first time in the club’s history. Down the other wing, Nico Williams has been a creative force for Athletic Bilbao, with only Villarreal’s Alex Baena (13) providing more than his 11 assists in La Liga this season. Between them is Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, whose 29 goals in the Primeira League this season have helped the Portuguese side win their second league title in 22 years.

Ahmed Walid, Mark Carey, Liam Tharme and Thom Harris

La Liga Player of the Season: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

What is there left to say about Bellingham’s debut season at Real Madrid?

We’ve written about his unreal start — he scored 17 goals in all competitions before Christmas — and his commercial value to Madrid and the parallels with Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano. You know about his box-crashing runs, the difficulty of labelling his style and how he went from Birmingham to the Bernabeu.

But the best example of his impact was the goal he scored against Barcelona to all but decide the La Liga title last month — his first effort for Madrid since February following absences through injury and suspension. Playing in a new league and a new position, the 20-year-old has made Spain his playground.

Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero

La Liga Team of the Season

Real Madrid dominating the votes is no surprise — four members of the team who made it a record-extending 36 La Liga trophies feature in our XI (Vinicius Jr, Bellingham, Rudiger and Dani Carvajal).

They are tied with Girona for most players. The City Football Group club mounted an unlikely title challenge thanks in part to the performances of talents including winger Savio and left-back Miguel Gutierrez, coupled with impressive finds such as playmaker Garcia and Artem Dovbyk, La Liga’s second-top scorer with 21 goals (behind Villarreal’s Alexander Sorloth on 23). They were unable to keep pace with Madrid but have secured Champions League football for the first time in their history.

Ilkay Gundogan is the sole bright spot for Barcelona after providing five goals and eight assists in La Liga following his move from Manchester City. There’s space for centre-back Dani Vivian from Copa del Rey-winning Athletic Bilbao and Valencia’s towering Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili too.

Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero

Serie A Player of the Season: Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan)

Let’s call it the Fellini role. Having a deep-lying playmaker, a film director in front of the defence, is so often the making of a champion in Italy.

Juventus’ dominance a decade ago began with the signing of Andrea Pirlo. Inter Milan ended it when Marcelo Brozovic learned the role. Napoli won their first league in three decades once Stanislav Lobotka fulfilled his potential. The reinvention of Hakan Calhanoglu has taken his game, and Inter, to another level.

James Horncastle

Serie A Team of the Season

I lost sleep over a couple of decisions. It was hard to leave out Inter’s Marcus Thuram, the signing of the season. I initially put Atalanta’s Ederson in over Albert Gudmundsson, only for the Genoa playmaker to finish the season strongly. My idea was for Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori to go into midfield when in possession — arguably the greatest tactical novelty this season in Serie A — and for Gudmundsson to push up next to Paulo Dybala as another No 10.

James Horncastle

Bundesliga Player of the Season: Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

An amazing season — and one that needs context. Wirtz has long been considered one of the great prospects in German football. That dates back to his time at Cologne, when he was considered the best prospect the region had seen in decades. But in March 2022, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament tear and there was no assurance that his trajectory would ever be the same again.

GO DEEPER

50 to watch - Florian Wirtz: a 'gift' to Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen's creative force

But Wirtz returned at the beginning of 2023 and in the 18 months since, his development has been startling. He’s better than ever, with the culmination being this near-perfect season. He has contributed a litany of decisive moments and beautiful goals, become a Bundesliga champion and, fundamentally, added another chapter to a wonderful comeback story.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Bundesliga Team of the Season

The obvious picks need little justification; the team is Leverkusen-heavy and there can be no arguing about that.

Elsewhere, Angelo Stiller played beautifully at the base of Stuttgart’s midfield and is almost certainly an international of the future. Patrick Mainka was uncomplicated at the heart of Heidenheim’s defence, but was part of a great story. Heidenheim survived comfortably in the end, despite a wage budget that is by far the smallest in the division and that owed plenty to Frank Schmidt’s towering centre-back.

Jan-Niklas Beste, Mainka’s team-mate, might yet be going to the European Championship. Deservedly, too, given his contribution from the left and the ludicrously consistent quality of his set pieces.

Xavi Simons will definitely be going to the Euros with the Netherlands and that will be off the back of the best season of his young career. RB Leipzig fluctuated in 2023-24, but Simons was, at times, astonishingly good and will surely only get better.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Ligue 1 Player of the Season: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

Once again, Mbappe’s interventions in Ligue 1 have been decisive for Paris Saint-Germain. He scored 27 goals for the champions, eight clear of anyone else and 16 more than any of his team-mates. He is the first player in French football history to win the Golen Boot in six consecutive seasons. That’s just the latest record to be broken for PSG’s all-time leading goalscorer. His time in Paris will end without European success but domestically, he could still sweep all before him once more if he finishes with cup success this weekend.

Peter Rutzler

Ligue 1 Team of the Season

Team of the year is fiercely contested in Ligue 1, even if champions PSG could have filled most of the line-up.

Among their contingent is midfielder Vitinha, who had a strong claim to be the division’s player of the season alongside Mbappe, as well as Gianluigi Donnarumma, who played a key role in maintaining PSG’s 26-league-game unbeaten run. He has been busy despite PSG’s dominance, and has the highest goals-prevented number in the division.

Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo is unlucky to miss out behind Lille’s young revelation Leny Yoro, 18, and Monaco’s Africa Cup of Nations winner Wilfried Singo.

Teji Savanier, 32, has again excelled as captain of Montpellier, while the consistency of Monaco’s Aleksandr Golovin pips multiple candidates on the left flank.

Brest, after a phenomenal season beyond all expectations, take three spots. Promising left-back Bradley Locko, Del Castillo and the outstanding Pierre Lees-Melou have been excellent and are all deserving of a place in this year’s team.

Peter Rutzler

Championship Player of the Season: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City)

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said at the start of the season he wanted to be a driving force in Leicester City’s return to the Premier League.

With 27 goal contributions (12 goals and 15 assists) in 49 appearances across all competitions, he has been true to his word.

Invariably, when Leicester needed a moment of inspiration it was the 25-year-old who provided it and he will be a key figure next season when the task will be to stay up.

Rob Tanner

Championship Team of the Season

What a Championship season — an automatic promotion race that went down to the final day, four teams in the mix at the top and a relegation battle for the ages.

But what about the standout individuals? Three Leicester City players, two Leeds United players and two Southampton players make it into our XI, and there is one representative apiece for Ipswich Town, Hull City and Norwich City.

Attack-minded full-backs Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton) and Leif Davis (Ipswich) were easy picks, while Ethan Ampadu has been crucial to Leeds’ defensive strengths this season. Mads Hermansen might not have won the Golden Glove but he had a stellar season for Leicester alongside midfield maestros Harry Winks and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The official Championship Player of the Season, Leeds’ Crysencio Summerville, and Golden Boot winner Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers) were obvious choices alongside Southampton’s star forward Adam Armstrong.

Jacob Greaves (Hull City) and Gabriel Sara (Norwich City) shone in their sides despite not winning promotion — they will be closely monitored this summer after their individual successes.

Nancy Froston

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)