For 26 years, former Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and England striker Gary Lineker has been one of the faces of TV coverage of the Premier League in the UK, as the presenter of the BBC's weekend highlights programme Match of the Day.
Sunday's show, covering the final day of the 2025/26 season, will be Lineker's last as Match of the Day host.
To mark the occasion, Lineker has talked us through his favourite 11 Premier League players from his time presenting the programme, as well as his top 10 Premier League moments.
"I've picked players that have given me a lot of pleasure, a lot of joy, over the period of time that I've presented the Premier League," said Lineker. "It's not in any particular order as I'll tie myself in knots!"
Lineker's player picks
Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
"My Leicester bias obviously, but it's for what he's done at Leicester, coming to the club when he was in his mid-20s, [costing] a million quid. He's just left, he's just finished for Leicester and he's been incredible. Goalscoring machine. To score 200 goals in 500 games in all competitions, it's a hell of an achievement at a club that is generally a yo-yo club. Most of our [Leicester] history is in the top flight but often in the second tier - and that's where we are going now! I think the fact that Leicester have been relegated twice since they won the league actually confirms the miracle that it was, and he [Vardy] was obviously a massive part of that, and in that [title-winning] season, he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record. It was incredible."
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)
"What a player he has been over such a long period of time for Manchester United; one of their all-time greats, their leading scorer - which is saying something with the players that they've had in the past. He had to get in there."
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
"Gerrard could do everything in midfield, he was dynamic and he scored really important goals. He was up and down the pitch... I know he never won the Premier League, but he was actually at Liverpool in a period where they weren't like they are now, so imagine if he was there now, he would have a few titles the way they're playing now. What a footballer and a leader, and a winner. So, he has to go in there."
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
"Not just because Hazard scored that goal at Chelsea against Tottenham [Hotspur] but just because the way he plays football, the way he ghosts past people from midfield, his low centre of gravity... just glorious to watch. And of course, the added bonus [goal against Spurs in their title race v Leicester]. I saw him at the Ballon d'Or a couple of years ago, we were in the same hotel in Paris, I bumped into him, and I was going, 'Mate, you're my hero' and he [Hazard] went 'Really?!'"
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester/Manchester City)
"Not just for what he did at Leicester but also Manchester City - I think they've really missed him since he left. What a beautiful footballer, what a bargain as well, he hardly cost any money. And his skinny little legs! He was one of the big four for Leicester when they won the league - Vardy was another one, [N'Golo] Kante and Kasper Schmeichel in goal, that spine, they were incredible, well, Mahrez wasn't part of the spine, he was wide. When he first started, you thought 'Crikey, this kid looks like he can play', and by the time he left us [Leicester] he was wonderful. More than anything else, it was [because of] his first touch, he brought it down like it was always a feather landing on his foot. I've never known anyone with such a touch, he's right up there with the likes of - not his overall ability, but in terms of his first touch - any of the players that you can think of."
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
"Got to be in. If I was playing the game today, I would've loved to have played with Kevin, I mean any striker would. Whether he's out wide or not, his crossing is incredible, his weight of pass, his vision - he had everything that a midfield player, a forward-thinking midfield player, needs. He has been an absolute joy to watch over the last 10 years or so."
Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
""My next choice was a painful one I have to say! It's really slightly begrudging but I've picked a certain Alan Shearer. He's got to be in there for his record in the Premier League - it is obviously incredible. He's actually a really good mate as we do the podcast together, but that hasn't influenced my thinking. [To score] 260 Premier League goals is something very special, and a lot of them were great goals. He could thump them in from 30 yards and he could poach them as well, he was actually a real joy to watch throughout his career."
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
"His goal record is pretty fantastic too, but it's not just that about Thierry. What a beautiful footballer. He was silky-smooth, he was so quick, but he made running look effortless. That customary thing where we see him cut in a little bit off the left and bend it in the far corner was always incredibly accurate. He's probably the greatest Premier League player of all time we've seen. It's close between a lot of these players, but Thierry was something else - he really was an incredible footballer."
Gareth Bale (Spurs)
"I put him in because I think even though most of his glories came at Real Madrid, I thought for two or three seasons at Spurs - the last two or three seasons - he was incredible. Obviously, I love Spurs, I played there. Some of the goals he scored... it didn't surprise me to see what he went on to do at Real Madrid, with all those [UEFA] Champions Leagues that he won, La Liga titles etc. What a player, the way he ran with the ball, with or without it, and the goalscoring abilities that he had... fantastic player."
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
"What a career he's having at Liverpool, season in, season out. He's going to win his fourth Golden Boot, only Thierry has done that. Alan [Shearer] won three, I won three before football existed! Do you know what I love about him? His personality, he has always got a smile on his face, I mean I would if I was as good as him. But he has a lovely personality. I've met him two or three times, he's a really great guy and he has to be in there."
Harry Kane (Spurs)
"All the goals that he has scored in the Premier League. I'm sure if he had stayed, he'd have beaten Alan's record [260 PL goals], but much to Alan's relief, he cleared off [to Bayern Munich], and now he's won himself a trophy as well, I was absolutely thrilled for him."
Honourable mentions
"Here's a little list of players that I really thought were so hard not to put in. Frank Lampard to start with - a goalscoring midfield player who was incredible.
"Luis Suarez is one of the great goalscoring centre-forwards and Paul Scholes, one of the most beautiful footballers I've ever watched.
"Roy Keane, for different reasons. [Patrick] Vieira's in that list as well. I'm not going to go for that kind of player, I'm going for the beautiful players and that's the reason why [N'Golo] Kante's not in there as well.
"Trent Alexander-Arnold has given me so much, I love watching him play. It was Trent or Gareth Bale, but the end I went with Bale and that might've been a slight bit of Tottenham bias.
"Virgil van Dijk for everything he has done at Liverpool - incredible. David Silva and David Beckham.
"It was difficult leaving out people like Frank [Lampard] because I know him well. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] was really hard, and [David] Beckham as well - he is another one, a little bit like De Bruyne, that I would have loved to have played with."