2025/26 Season Player Highlights: Medals, Milestones, and New Homes

The 2025/26 season scattered the club’s talent across Europe and beyond, and many of them came back with medals, milestones and, in some cases, new homes.

Jakub Kiwior

At the top of the pile stands Jakub Kiwior. Porto trusted him, and he repaid that faith with a title-winning campaign in Portugal. The defender made 26 league appearances in a Primeira Liga triumph that earned him a place in the division’s Team of the Season. He added eight more outings in the UEFA Europa League and five in the Taca de Portugal, all while continuing to feature for Poland. Porto have seen enough: he will join them permanently in July.

Fabio Vieira

Fabio Vieira also used his loan to remind people of his craft. In Hamburg colours he produced seven goals and six assists across 31 games in all competitions, with one standout moment in January – the cool penalty that opened the scoring against Bayern Munich.

Reiss Nelson

Back in England, Reiss Nelson’s Brentford debut crackled. A goal and an assist in a 5-0 Carabao Cup demolition of Grimsby Town in October set the tone for his spell with the Bees. He finished with 14 appearances in all competitions, 10 of them in the Premier League.

Ethan Nwaneri

Ethan Nwaneri’s step into senior European football came in Marseille. Eleven games, two goals, one assist – and a first Ligue 1 strike on debut in a 3-1 win over Lens. The progress did not go unnoticed. He earned a first England senior call-up and sat on the bench for their 1-0 victory over New Zealand.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

Oleksandr Zinchenko’s season split in two. He clocked five Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest, plus three in the Europa League, one in the FA Cup and one in the Carabao Cup, and in the process became the first Ukrainian to play for the club. Then came a permanent move to Ajax in January, a new chapter for a seasoned international.

Karl Hein

In Germany, Karl Hein’s year never quite took off. He played twice in the Bundesliga against Bayern Munich for St. Pauli before spending most of the campaign on the bench, and then missed the run-in with a thumb injury. For Estonia, though, he remained a constant, captaining his country and helping them to a 1-0 friendly win over Faroe Islands.

Women’s Game

Across the women’s game, the loan system shaped entire seasons.

Rosa Kafaji

Rosa Kafaji became a regular for Brighton & Hove Albion, making 24 appearances in all competitions and scoring twice. Michelle Agyemang also started the year at Brighton and found the net once in five Barclays Women’s Super League matches before an ACL injury cut short her momentum and her spell.

Jenna Nighswonger

Jenna Nighswonger slotted into Aston Villa’s WSL campaign, featuring eight times and recording one assist, while one tier down Jessie Gale simply could not stop scoring. Split between Portsmouth and Bristol City, she struck nine goals and added two assists in 27 games across all competitions, adjusting seamlessly to each new dressing room.

Vivienne Lia

Vivienne Lia’s journey took her from Nottingham Forest to silverware in Sweden. She played 12 times for Forest before heading to Hammarby IF on loan, where she helped the club lift the Svenska Cupen with victory over BK Hacken. She then chipped in with one goal across 10 appearances for the Swedish side.

Laila Harbert

Laila Harbert’s season spanned continents. She began with Portland Thorns in the NWSL, making five appearances, then crossed back to England in January to join Everton, where she featured once in the WSL against Chelsea.

Madison Earl

For Madison Earl, the breakthrough moment came in the FA Cup. Eight appearances for Ipswich Town brought her first goal for The Tractor Girls in a third-round win over AFC Portchester, plus two assists and the Player of the Round award. From there she moved north to Glasgow City in January, debuting in a 4-0 SWPL 1 victory over Partick Thistle in March.

Naomi Williams

Naomi Williams started three Subway Women’s League Cup games for Bristol City, quietly building senior minutes. Cecily Wellesley-Smith followed a different path: a League Cup debut for Leicester City against Ipswich Town, then a switch to Sweden for the second half of the season. There she found her scoring touch for FC Rosengard, heading in her first goal in a 3-0 win over Vaxjo DFF to close out their Svenska Cupen campaign on a high. She finished with two goals in 11 matches.

Men’s Academy Ranks

In the men’s academy ranks, several youngsters used lower-league football as a proving ground.

Ismeal Kabia

Ismeal Kabia became a mainstay at Shrewsbury Town. Forty-three appearances in all competitions, three goals, two assists, and a central role in keeping the club in League Two. Two of those goals were box-office: a late equaliser against Sutton United in the FA Cup and a long-range rocket in the 96th minute to snatch a 2-2 draw with Fleetwood Town. Week after week, he was one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Charles Sagoe Jr

Charles Sagoe Jr took his game to Sweden, where he contributed two goals and five assists in 12 outings for Kalmar FF across the Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen, offering end product from wide areas.

Maldini Kacurri

Maldini Kacurri impressed in League Two with Morecambe. Eighteen appearances, one goal, one assist from defence, and a reputation for going the distance with regular 90-minute shifts. His consistency earned him two Morecambe Player of the Month awards and, ultimately, a permanent move to Grimsby Town.

Lucas Nygaard

In Denmark, Lucas Nygaard’s season with Brabrand IF was about survival. He played 12 times in the Danish second tier as they finished fourth in Group B before navigating a tense series of relegation play-offs. They stayed up by seven points, with Nygaard keeping two clean sheets when it mattered most.

Louie Copley

Louie Copley’s loan at Crawley Town brought nine League Two appearances and one assist, while Harrison Dudziak picked up valuable senior minutes with five games for Braintree Town in the National League over December and January.

William Sweet

William Sweet rounded off the list with a productive spell at Dagenham & Redbridge. Ten appearances in the National League South and a decisive goal in a 1-0 away win at Chesham United underlined his readiness for the senior grind.

Different leagues, different pressures, different stories – but one shared question now hangs over all of them: who has done enough to force their way into the next stage of the club’s plans?