PFA Team of the Premier League does not include four-timer Mo Salah

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Mo Salah became the first ever player to win the PFA Player of the Year three times after picking up the award on Tuesday night and the ceremony also marked the Egyptian’s inclusion in the Team of the Year for the fourth time.

Salah is among the favourites for the PFA Player of the Year award for 2025/26.

There are a some iconic names who’ve been picked more than the Liverpool hero, including one of his team-mates. Here’s an XI made up from players who’ve been selected for the PFA Team of the Year on five occasions or more in the Premier League era.

Goalkeeper: David De Gea

You’d be hard pressed to find a Manchester United fan who rates David De Gea higher than Peter Schmeichel (one inclusion) or Edwin van der Sar (three inclusions), but the current Fiorentina stopper was a rare gem in the bleak post-Fergie years at Old Trafford, warranting selection five times. If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the keeper with the most appearances in the top flight TOTY since its inception in the 1973/74 season.

Defender: Gary Neville

Although seemingly quite content to laugh at himself when others play down his talents, Gary Neville must’ve been doing something right considering he was selected by his peers as the best right-back in the Premier League on six occasions. The only full-back to feature more often in the top tier’s Team of the Year is Arsenal and Crystal Palace legend Kenny Sansom with eight.

Defender: Rio Ferdinand

Neville’s former Manchester United team-mate also makes this side, having been selected six times. His first inclusion came with Leeds United in 2001/02, before a big money move to Old Trafford saw him become a TOTY regular, lining up alongside centre-back partner Nemanja Vidic three times in the Premier League’s best XI.

Defender: Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk’s inclusion on Tuesday night sees him stay one clear of Salah. However, the Liverpool captain needs to be selected one more time to equal Anfield legend Alan Hansen’s record of six. Van Dijk remains just one of three defenders to win the individual award in the Premier League era, standing tall alongside Paul McGrath and John Terry, with Gary Pallister picking up the gong in the last ever First Division campaign of 1991/92.

Right wing: Cristiano Ronaldo

Seven full seasons in English football and selected for the PFA Team of the Year in five of them, with his final inclusion coming in his late thirties. Cristiano Ronaldo would have surely broken all the individual and team records if he didn’t swap Manchester for Madrid, but thankfully the PFA awards remain far more diverse than the Ballon d’Or circa 2008 to 2017.

Central midfield: Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira’s impressive six selections in nine years at Arsenal sees him make this team, with the French midfielder often lining up alongside fierce rival Roy Keane in the best Premier League side of the season. Keane may have won the war when it came to league titles, but Vieira won the PFA Team of the Year battle, with one more inclusion than the Irishman.

Central midfield: Kevin De Bruyne

Now playing in the blue of Napoli instead of Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne’s fifth and final TOTY inclusion came in the Citizens’ treble-winning season of 2022/23. Five of the Premier League’s best XI came from the Etihad that year, in a repeat of 1998/99, when the same number of Manchester United players appeared as the Red Devils battled their way to glory at home and abroad.

READ: Top 10 Premier League teams of all time has new entrant in Man City 22/23

Central midfield: Steven Gerrard

With eight PFA Team of the Year selections, Steven Gerrard has more than Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes combined. Does that put the debate to bed? Probably not.

Left wing: Ryan Giggs

The fifth and final Manchester United legend in this elite XI, Ryan Giggs was a member of the first TOTY of the Premier League era and won the Young Player of the Year award in the same season. Sixteen years later the Welsh wizard made his sixth and final appearance in the top flight’s best XI whilst also lifting the big individual award in 2008/09.

Striker: Harry Kane

It is of course very Spursy that Harry Kane was selected for the PFA Team of the Year six times without winning the Player of the Year, whilst also standing out as the only man in this side not to lift a league title or cup in at least one of the seasons he was selected in. But he’s got his Bundesliga medal now and Tottenham have dusted down their trophy cabinet for the Europa League, so all is well.

Striker: Thierry Henry

Last but not least, arguably the Premier League’s greatest ever player. Thierry Henry was selected for TOTY six times in a row at the start of the millennium and won Player of the Year award twice during those years. Despite that success in England, the Highbury hero missed out on the Ballon d’Or at his peak, finishing as runner-up to Pavel Nedved in 2003.

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