NETHERLANDS

Uefa has handed out the European Footballer of the Year award since 2011. Only once has the prestigious prize gone to a defender – in 2019, when Virgil van Dijk beat Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. “I had to work hard for every step of the way – that's part of me and I'm very happy about that,” he said as he accepted the award. “I'm very proud, it's all credit to everyone that's helped me along the way.” The son of a Surinamese mother and Dutch father, he was initially criticised in the youth ranks at Willem II after being deemed too “laid-back”. Via FC Groningen, Celtic and Southampton, he arrived at Liverpool in 2018. A proper leader for club and country, even though in the Netherlands he still rarely gets the credit he deserves, being held in higher esteem in England. That’s not true back at Willem II, though, where they named a stand after him at their Sportpark Prinsenhoeve youth facility in Tilburg last year. The club said: “With this, his name is not only immortalised in the rich history of Willem II, but also emphatically linked to the development of youth football in the city.”

AKA “the Giant of Arnemuiden”, a nickname honouring his time at his local amateur club in the Zeeland town of Arnemuiden. The robust centre-back was snapped up by Brighton from NAC Breda six years ago but his breakthrough took some time, via loan spells at Dutch club Heerenveen and in the Championship with Blackburn. Now, though, he’s a Premier League regular, and last year won both Brighton’s player of the year award and the players’ player of the year too. He is the nephew of former international Jan Poortvliet, who played in the 1978 World Cup final loss to Argentina. Van Hecke said in 2024: “My uncle is enjoying my journey, he said he is proud and he watches me every game. When I played against Ajax, winning away made him emotional, he was in tears … He told me all the stories from the World Cup he played in. He said they were robbed against Argentina!”

Gravenberch signed a new long-term deal at Liverpool in March, reflecting his massive improvement at Anfield since joining from Bayern in 2023. Still only 24, his future looks bright – and much brighter than it had, for a time, in Munich. His father, Ryan Sr, revealed earlier this season that his son struggled badly to adjust when he first arrived in Germany, which is why they moved out there to support him. “The football world is hard,” his dad said. “Ryan was only 21 at that time and had a lot of problems. The move to Liverpool was the best thing that could happen: he went from that hell to his heaven.” As a child he learned a lot from his brother Danzell, who is eight years older. “When I was little I watched him play outside,” he told The Guardian in 2024, “and when we were a bit older I would go with him to play on the streets. He’s a big boy so it was difficult for me, but he toughened me up.” Danzell went on to have a nomadic football career of his own, playing for 13 clubs, while Ryan became Ajax’s youngest ever player when he made his debut aged 16 years and 130 days.

It was a grim season for West Ham, but a handful of players came out of it with credit, and Summerville was among them. After signing from Leeds for £25m in August 2024, his first season was disrupted badly by a hamstring injury. But last season he was at the centre of many of the team’s better moments. When relegation was confirmed he posted online: "West Ham United is too big, too special, and too powerful to stay down for long. The comeback starts now." But whether he will be part of that comeback attempt remains to be seen; plenty of rival clubs have shown an interest. Born in Rotterdam, he joined Feynoord’s academy in 2008, and caught the eye during a loan spell at ADO Den Haag. Away from football, he’s a big basketball fan. “I love to play on a basketball court because I love watching NBA,” he said in 2024. “My favourite players are LeBron James and Stephen Curry, both all-time greats, and I always try to replicate their shots when I’m on court.”