Is success crucial? BBC Sport experts pick their player of the season

Who will win the Premier League player of the season?

That won't be announced until towards the end of May but we already have a pretty good idea of the contenders, based on players' performances so far this campaign.

Arsenal are leading the way in the title race and should they win, the likes of defender Gabriel and midfelder Declan Rice will surely be in contention.

But there have been other standout performers this season, including the likes of Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, and perhaps somewhat more unexpected stars like Igor Thiago and Antoine Semenyo will likely be in the mix.

BBC Sport take a closer look at who could be in line for the award before asking its reporters who they would pick.

You also get the chance to vote for your winner below.

In short - not always.

It has been that way for the past five seasons, with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah the most recent winner and Manchester City players taking the award from 2020-21 to 2023-24.

However, prior to that the split was more even with 11 recipients from non-Premier League winners compared to 10 for players from the champions.

Arsenal are in a strong position to win the Premier League this season and Rice has been a key player behind their title charge.

No Gunners player has registered more league assists than his five this season, while he is also ranked top for number of chances and big chances created.

Rice is the favourite to be crowned player of the season but pushing him hard for the award is Manchester United captain Fernandes.

This season only Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has contributed to more goals than than the Portuguese midfielder, who has eight goals and 16 assists in 28 games.

Fernandes is on course to break the record for the highest number of assists provided across a single Premier League season.

That tally is 20 - a total which has been reached by two players - Thierry Henry for Arsenal in 2002-03 and Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne in 2019-20.

Other contenders include Arsenal defender Gabriel, who has been a vital player for the Gunners at the back as well as chipping in with some important goals, including a 90th-minute winner at Newcastle back in September.

Meanwhile, Semenyo starred for Bournemouth before slotting in seamlessly to the Manchester City attack following his move to Pep Guardiola's side in January, while Igor Thiago has shone up front for Brentford.

Declan Rice.

Arsenal's Rice wins my vote as player of the year for his consistently high quality and leadership as Mikel Arteta's side go in search of elusive trophies.

Add his dead-ball expertise and Rice is the full package as a midfielder in the top class.

He has been central to Arsenal's success and England head coach Thomas Tuchel will regard him as one of his most important players at this summer's World Cup.

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Declan Rice.

The midfield thrust of Arsenal's impressive trophy assault this season. Whether he's at No 6 or No 8 – he is invariably one of the best players on the pitch.

How his season is viewed will ultimately be determined by the level of collective success Arsenal have by the end of the season. But regardless of their trophy haul, Rice has been sensational.

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Bruno Fernandes.

There is no doubt the Manchester United skipper deserves to be named player of the year.

He is by far the most regular scorer or provider of goals in the Premier League.

Of the 11 games he has not done one or the other for United this season his team did not score at all in three. In one of the others, at Aston Villa, he had to go off at half-time, which was a shock in itself because Fernandes hardly ever misses a game.

His 16 assists are twice as many as anyone else. He is joint fifth in the list of midfield goalscorers.

In a season where attacking players have largely not stood out consistently across the entire campaign, he is the exception.

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Antoine Semenyo.

A player with 19 goal contributions in the Premier League this season, Semenyo has been one of the stars of the top flight for Bournemouth and then Manchester City following his move in January.

The 26-year-old immediately hit his strides under Guardiola and scored on his debut in the 10-1 hammering of Exeter City in the FA Cup, one of eight goals for City since his £62.5m transfer from the Cherries.

By featuring against Real Madrid, Semenyo became just the fourth player to compete in non-league, all four professional divisions in England and Europe's elite competition.

The Ghana winger would have wanted to win major silverware at City and did just that when lifting the EFL Cup following his side's brilliant win over Arsenal at Wembley.

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Gabriel.

In a season where it seems like Premier League football has had a bit of a throwback with its focus on physicality, Arsenal's Gabriel has been brilliant at both ends of the pitch.

You can class him as an old-school centre-half and the Brazilian is a force defensively, with Arsenal conceding just 22 goals in 31 league games this season.

Going forward, the 28-year-old has three goals and four assists. Since making his debut for Arsenal six years ago, no top-flight defender has more goals than the 20 he's scored.

Players like Fernandes, Semenyo and Dominik Szoboszlai have had impressive seasons with solid attacking numbers but ultimately it is Arsenal that lead the way in the Premier League.

Rice has notably had a fantastic campaign too but in terms of importance, no Arsenal player has been more influential than Gabriel in their quest for a first title since 2004.

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Bruno Fernandes.

The Manchester United captain deserves recognition not only for his form this season but also for his consistency over several years.

Even as United have fallen short of expectations, Fernandes has delivered in what has often been a dysfunctional environment, which has now stabilised under interim boss Michael Carrick.

For me, Fernandes is something of a Matt le Tissier figure, reminiscent of his Southampton days in the 1990s: a player who could have left to win more trophies but has stayed loyal in a way others perhaps might not have been.

With eight goals and 16 assists in 28 Premier League matches this season, he would be my pick for player of the season.

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Igor Thiago.

The striker's 19 goals have lifted Brentford to the brink of European football for the first time in their history, having been pre-season favourites for relegation.

He has scored the most goals by a Brazilian in a single Premier League season and became the fastest Brentford player to reach 10 top-flight goals.

He is one short of their overall Premier League record of 20 in a season, scored by Bryan Mbeumo (2024-25) and Ivan Toney (2022-23).

It comes after last season was wrecked by injury following a £30m move from Club Brugge in 2024. A knee injury in pre-season ruined his chance of an early impact and then a joint infection kept him out until the final few games.

He made just eight appearances, failing to score, so to return at the level he has this season - and earn a maiden Brazil call up - is a testament to his quality and self-belief.

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Gabriel.

Defenders do not often get individual recognition, but Gabriel has been a hugely influential figure in Arsenal's march towards the title.

I must admit that I did not rate the screaming Brazilian all that much when I first saw him play for Arsenal in a 2-0 defeat at St James' Park a few years ago.

But the much-improved centre-back has typified the journey Arsenal have gone on since that bruising night on Tyneside.

He has also embodied everything that has been so effective about Arteta's team this season.

Not only has Gabriel been a lynchpin in the top-flight's meanest defence – he has caused the opposition real problems at set-plays.