Ivan Toney was named on Sunday as one of five nominees for the Saudi Pro League’s 2025-26 Player of the Season after opening the voting period and extending a campaign that has the league watching his every touch.
The Player of the Season shortlist published by the league includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivan Toney, Joao Felix, Julian Quinones and Ruben Neves, and voting officially opened on Sunday with winners to be revealed once the season concludes — formally announced on Friday, May 22 after the final matchweek.
The numbers underline why Toney is on the list: he currently leads the SPL scoring charts with 32 goals and six assists in 31 games, has produced four hat-tricks and collected nine Man of the Match awards this season. Cristiano Ronaldo has 26 goals and three assists in 29 games, has seven Man of the Match awards, and has become only the third player in the modern era to reach 100 goals in the Saudi Pro League.
Other nominees bring different arguments: Joao Felix has recorded three hat-tricks and leads the assist charts with 12 assists; Julian Quinones has scored 30 goals and four assists in 30 appearances for Al Qadsiah and became his side’s all-time top-flight scorer with 50 goals; Ruben Neves became the first player to surpass 2,000 passes and leads the league in dangerous passes.
The voting system is weighted. The head coaches and captains of all 18 SPL clubs account for 40 percent of the overall vote; the Kingdom’s leading sports journalists contribute 15 percent; and fans make up the remaining 5 percent. The awards are being decided as much by those inside the dressing rooms as by the press and a small slice of public opinion.
Context matters because the shortlist was published at a moment of maximum exposure: the announcement arrived as the title race between Al Nassr and Al Hilal headed into a decisive final round of fixtures on Thursday. Al Nassr sit atop the standings with 83 points and hold a two-point lead over an undefeated Al Hilal side; a victory against Damac would secure the championship for Al Nassr while Al Hilal face Al Fayha in their final game.
The timing creates a natural strain between individual and team measures of success. Voting opened on Sunday even as the season’s most consequential matches remain to be played; coaches and captains will cast ballots that together form 40 percent of the outcome, and those votes are likely to be affected by performances in the final matchweek before winners are announced on Friday, May 22.
For many voters, ivan toney's 32 goals and six assists across 31 games are the clearest evidence of a player who has carried a consistent attacking burden, but the shortlist makes clear the award-watch is not just about goals. Neves’s passing milestones, Felix’s creativity, Quinones’s scoring run and Ronaldo’s century of SPL goals each present distinct cases that the weighted voting model must reconcile.
The league will publish the winners after the last fixtures are played and the magnifying glass of the final weekend has been removed. Whoever takes the Player of the Season prize on Friday will reflect both a body of work across 31-plus games and the immediate impressions drawn from the decisive final round of the 2025-26 campaign.
