Soccer Card Watch: The Top 5 Players to Collect this Premier League Season

Real soccer (read: football) fans know that, unlike other sports, soccer season never ends. 

Between this summer’s World Cup, an ever-increasing number of off-season tournaments, and a near-endless barrage of “Here we go!” from Fabrizio Romano, it’s hard to believe that we haven’t seen a true English Premier League match in 88 days—unless you count Arsenal’s thrashing of Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend. Well fear not, football fanatics, because Friday’s match between league-winners Arsenal and newly promoted side Coventry is just a day away!

Before we watch Ipswich Town and Hull City’s return to the top of the football pyramid, and ahead of debates about whether Michael Carrick, Andoni Iraola, and Enzo Maresca are the right fits for Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City, it’s time to take a deep breath. Rather than rushing right into arguments between pundits over Newcastle United’s new kits, let’s take a closer look at what’s happened since the end of the 2025-26 Season in May.

Twenty clubs, one trophy, and plenty of ways to chase the best cards from the league’s top players on Courtyard. Let the banter begin!

New (and old) Faces:

Each season, three teams earn promotion from the EFL Championship to the Premier League. This year, Coventry City, Ipswich Town, and Hull City all make their triumphant returns. For Coventry, it’s been 25 years away from the top; meanwhile, Hull City spent just under a decade working their way back; and as for Ipswich Town, supported by lifelong fan Ed Sheeran, the club is entering potential yo-yo club status after fighting their way back to the Prem this season, just two years after a historic promotion more than three decades in the making.

Typically, these clubs would be tabbed for the bottom of the table, but given the success of Sunderland last season, anything is possible. I’ll certainly be rooting for United States Men’s National Team player Haji Wright, who stars for Coventry.

Summer 2026 Spending Spree:

Every season has two transfer windows: summer and winter. During these two time blocks, teams across the league—and globe—are able to buy and sell players from other clubs, somewhat akin to a typical NFL, NBA, or NHL offseason. While the Summer Transfer Window doesn’t close until September 1st, plenty of cash has already traded hands…a whopping $2.9 billion dollars (£2.14bn), which was somehow surpassed during both last summer’s window and the summer window of 2023. Talk about big bucks!

This window alone we’ve seen Morgan Rogers’ £117m move from Aston Villa to Chelsea briefly stand as the most expensive transfer for an English player in Premier League history, only for the big bank of Man City to blow past it a few days later, paying Nottingham Forest £116m for Elliot Anderson. Tottenham, who nearly crashed out of the Prem last season, spent big at both ends of the pitch, landing Sandro Tonali from Newcastle (for a fee that could rise to as high as £100m), and securing Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for £85m. Unsatisfied with their status as the Champions League’s runner-up, Arsenal was able to snatch Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle for £75m, among other moves, as the rich got richer.

But buried underneath the bigger fees of these standout transfers was one of the summer’s most talked about arrivals: Chelsea’s £40m swoop for 18-year-old winger Geovany Quenda, one of the most hyped teenage prospects in Europe. The former Sporting star is a hot commodity in the soccer card world, making it unsurprising that his cards are available in Courtyard’s Soccer Packs and on our marketplace.

Players to Watch - 2026-27:

Clubs are always retooling, but some superstars are synonymous with their squads, worth rebuilding around rather than selling off. Here are three of the league’s biggest names to watch —and collect—this season.

• Erling Haaland enters the season as the league’s most dangerous finisher, and his cards remain a headline pull in Courtyard’s Soccer Platinum Pack, with a lucky collector pulling one of his rookie cards just this week. After a highlight-filled World Cup debut for Norway, Haaland’s Premier League cards are popular with collectors across the globe, as well as on the Courtyard’s marketplace.
• Bukayo Saka is back at Arsenal after a deep World Cup run for England. Will Star Boy’s legs be up to the challenge of year-round football or will he help the Gunners lift their second consecutive Premier League trophy?
• Cole Palmer remains Chelsea’s talisman, even if his superstar status has dipped a bit due to a combination of injuries and a dip in form last season. With a goal celebration so cold it’ll have you reaching for your Snuggie, The Blues will be hoping to see the 24-year-old find the back of the net quite a few times over the next nine months.
• Bruno Fernandes is by far the oldest player on this list, but after last season’s record-setting run of assists for Manchester United, the Red Devils’ captain will be leading one of the world’s biggest clubs back to Europe to face Champions League competition with a roster that is sure to heavily rely on the Portuguese superstar once again. 

Good Luck, and a Reminder:

However the season shakes out, one thing’s certain: between the transfer fees and the talent on the pitch, 2026-27 is shaping up to be one of the most collectible Premier League seasons yet—and for two lucky winners, the fun has already begun.

Keep an eye out for Courtyard’s events, which feature raffles for iconic cards, jerseys, and more. Just ask grotesquelegacy6978 and nearvictory6743, who won signed and framed Pele (Brazil) and Ronaldo (Real Madrid) jerseys.

No matter who you support, hope is in the air. Cheers to another action packed Premier League season!