Welcome to theguardian.com review of the 2018-19 Premier League season. We have nominated some contenders for this category but this is just to get the discussion going: offer your suggestions below the line …

David Brooks (Bournemouth)

At the age of just 21 Brooks has had a spectacular debut season with Bournemouth, even if the form of Ryan Fraser on the left flank has somewhat overshadowed him, while also impressing on the international stage with Wales. “When I arrived, not many people would have anticipated the start I have made – myself included,” he said after signing an improved, lengthened contract in March, while Eddie Howe praised a player who had “impressed everyone from the minute he stepped through the door”. He completed only six of the first 23 Premier League games he started, suggesting that stamina was perhaps an issue, but played the entirety of the last six matches he featured in.

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James Maddison (Leicester City)

“I’ve always wanted to be a winner, the best player, the one that everyone is talking about,” James Maddison told the Guardian last season. A matter of weeks later he moved to Leicester and set about making sure of it. Three goals and a couple of assists in the first seven league games set the tone for an outstanding debut season in the top-flight for the 22-year-old. Gareth Southgate has yet to reward his performances with an international call-up – “I think he’s a No 10 and, at the moment, we’ve not been playing with a 10. At the moment I think others are ahead of him,” he said – but Brendan Rodgers believes there remains room for improvement. “He is a huge talent,” the Leicester manager says. “He is a wonderful player and he has made great strides. I see a lot of potential and he is willing to work on his game.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest James Maddison poses with Leicester’s Young Player of the Season award. Photograph: Plumb Images/Leicester City via Getty Images

Fabian Schär (Newcastle United)

It took until November for Fabian Schär to start consecutive league games, but though it took him a little while to settle into the rhythm of the Premier League it was no coincidence that Newcastle’s fortunes seemed to significantly improve once he became a regular in the side. There was also a memorable solo goal against Cardiff – “everything just went for me and the pitch opened up” – and perhaps a few too many bookings, but the much-travelled 27-year-old looks a genuine bargain.

Alisson (Liverpool)

Having spent £67m on their new goalkeeper Liverpool would have expected excellence, but by December Jürgen Klopp was gushing that “if I knew Alisson was this good I would have paid double”. Following the arrival of Virgil van Dijk last January, Alisson has allowed Klopp to fashion a defence that manages to be the league’s meanest while still allowing two of its members enough freedom to be among the division’s top five assist-makers. He is, the manager says, “unbelievably important”, and has also been part of teams that have come back from three-goal first-leg deficits to knock Barcelona out of the Champions League in successive seasons.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alisson Becker in action for Liverpool against Cardiff City. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Ben Foster (Watford)

No side in recent Premier League history has been less interesting that late-era Tony Pulis West Brom, and it was perhaps this that put scouts and other sentient beings off spending time at the Hawthorns appreciating quite how decent Ben Foster is at goalkeeping, and allowed Watford to snaffle the now 36-year-old last summer. A couple of recent errors have not erased the memories of an otherwise outstanding season at the club where he first made his name on loan from Manchester United.

João Moutinho (Wolves)

Wolves maximised their chances of having someone in the signings of the season list by making an extraordinary amount of signings, and such has been their success that any number of them could have made the cut. Moutinho’s elegance, excellence and reliability sees him get the nod, after a season in which he has started 34 and appeared in all but one of his side’s league matches. “He’s special,” Conor Coady said. “I think we’re very lucky to have him at our club and as a team-mate. He’s fantastic to have around and a really special person.”