O'Reilly wins prestigious PFA award

Manchester City defender Nico O'Reilly succeeded Morgan Rogers to become the 2026 men's Young Player of the Year at the Professional Footballers' Associations awards. The 21-year-old paid tribute to former boss Pep Guardiola, who gave the youngster his City debut in 2024. "Pep was a great manager. He put his trust in me, which I can only be grateful for. He helped me so much on the pitch and off the pitch as a person. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sat in this position right now. Thank you to him," said O'Reilly. The versatile playmaker contributed eight goal involvements (five goals) and helped secure nine clean sheets in 34 league outings, scoring twice, and was named player of the match as City beat Arsenal in the League Cup final. "It means a lot obviously to get recognised by the players that you play with and play around," he added. "It is a huge award to win. Obviously, the players that have won it before have gone on to do massive things themselves." Since making his debut, O'Reilly has won the FA Cup, Community Shield and League Cup. "It feels amazing," he continued. "To even be part of this team is a huge and great feeling, but to help them out and help this team out to win trophies or win games, it is an amazing feeling. Obviously, I came through the academy, and I have been here all my life, so it means even more."