Between the posts, in the stats and in the voting. After nine months spent shutting down Atalanta's goal and occupying the upper reaches of the Player of the Month rankings with the same consistency off the pitch, Marco Carnesecchi also claims the 2025/26 Lete Player of the Season award, the natural culmination of a campaign performed at the highest level from start to finish.
Behind Carnesecchi, the battle for the remaining podium places saw Nikola Krstović and Davide Zappacosta separated by only a handful of votes after a race that remained open until the very end. Two players who embodied some of the most compelling storylines of Atalanta's season: the former through a steady rise that culminated in a remarkable second half of the campaign, the latter through yet another season defined by substance, reliability and consistency.
If Atalanta’s 2025/26 season can be traced back to a single thread running through every chapter of the campaign, that thread bears the name of Marco Carnesecchi.
And if there is one quality that defined his season, it was consistency. Week after week, match after match, the Nerazzurri's number 29 remained an ever-present figure in Atalanta's journey, establishing himself as one of the team's most reliable cornerstones. That consistency is perhaps best reflected by one number above all others: 4,530 minutes played across the season. Not only a personal best, but a new all-time Atalanta record, surpassing even the 4,325 minutes logged by Berat Djimsiti in 2023/24.
Of his 50 appearances in all competitions, 37 came in Serie A for a total of 3,330 minutes, alongside 900 minutes in the Champions League and 300 in the Coppa Italia. Only his absence on the final matchday prevented Carnesecchi from reaching the 3,420-minute mark in Serie A, a feat achieved in the 20-team era only by Ferdinando Coppola back in 2007/08.
Yet reducing the Rimini-born goalkeeper's season to a matter of availability alone would do him a great disservice. His campaign was ultimately defined by substance, performance and impact. The numbers speak for themselves: 18 clean sheets across all competitions, matching his personal best and ranking among the finest returns in the Club's recent history; 114 saves, two penalties stopped in Serie A and another in the Champions League, along with the second-best save percentage in the league (78.1%) and the fifth-lowest goals-conceded average per 90 minutes (0.87).
The true extent of Carnesecchi's influence becomes even clearer when looking at the advanced metrics. The Atalanta goalkeeper finished second in Serie A for goals prevented relative to expected goals conceded, saving the Nerazzurri more than 8.5 goals over the course of the season. Only Mike Maignan posted a better figure. The standout performance came away at Como, where a late penalty save alone accounted for more than two goals prevented according to the underlying data.
His save percentage tells a similar story. By stopping 77% of the shots on target he faced, Carnesecchi recorded the second-best figure in Serie A while also setting a new personal best in the competition. A statistic that perfectly illustrates his steady progression year after year: from 72.5% in 2023/24, to 74% in 2024/25, and finally 77% this season.
Further validation comes from the findings of the CIES Football Observatory, which ranked Carnesecchi as Serie A's best goalkeeper in 2025/26 according to Impect data, a metric measuring the difference between expected goals conceded and goals actually allowed. In other words, no goalkeeper in the league outperformed statistical expectations to a greater extent than the Nerazzurri shot-stopper.
His importance to Atalanta's season was also reflected in the individual accolades he collected along the way. Three Panini Player of the Match awards came on the pitch, while his performances earned near-universal recognition from the Nerazzurri faithful. Winner of the Player of the Month award in August-September, October and May, and runner-up in November, January, February and April, Marco Carnesecchi remained a constant fixture among the fans' favourites throughout the campaign, turning consistency into his trademark.
Second only to Marco Carnesecchi in the final Player of the Season voting, Nikola Krstović built much of his case after the turn of the year. Following a first half of the campaign spent settling into his new surroundings, the Montenegrin shifted into a higher gear with the arrival of 2026, a period in which he accounted for nearly 80% of his offensive production.
Nine goals, five assists, two Player of the Month awards and four of his five Panini Serie A Player of the Match honours: numbers that only partially capture the upward trajectory of Atalanta's number 90 in the new calendar year.
January and February proved particularly red-hot. In the former, Krstović averaged a goal every 47 minutes, scoring five times in six appearances and claiming the first Player of the Month award of his Atalanta career. A run of form that also earned him two Panini Player of the Match awards and laid the foundations for a season that would ultimately see him finish as Atalanta's outright leader with five such recognitions, thanks also to standout performances against Torino in the first half of the campaign, and Cremonese and Inter after the winter break.
February, meanwhile, perhaps offered the clearest reflection of how he interprets the role. Not only because of the goals and assists, but also because of the selflessness and ability to influence matches beyond the scoresheet that characterised his season. Nothing captured that better than the night of the "Nerazzurri delirium" at the New Balance Arena, when deep into stoppage time it was Krstović who won the penalty that opened the door to victory, calmly converted by Samardžić amid wild celebrations from the Atalanta faithful.
Further context for the Montenegrin's season comes from the advanced metrics. With 4.1 shots per game, Krstović topped the entire Serie A rankings, improving on last season's figure while also recording the second-highest expected goals volume in the league. Furthermore, 80% of his attempts came from inside the penalty area.
Those figures are complemented by eight assists in all competitions, the best return of his career, and five assists in Serie A, matching his personal best.
With 11 goals scored during the 2025/26 campaign, Nikola also entered a particularly exclusive club: only five players have reached double figures in both of the last two Serie A seasons. Alongside the Montenegrin are Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martínez, Scott McTominay and Riccardo Orsolini.
Outsider in a race dominated by attacking talent, Davide Zappacosta claims the third spot on the Lete Player of the Season podium.
The only player to complete a Player of the Month–Goal of the Month double during the campaign, the Nerazzurri wing-back also secured a place among the finalists for Player of the Season. A bronze medal that almost feels like silver for the 1992-born defender, considering that just five votes separated him from Nikola Krstović, with the Montenegrin ultimately benefiting from the greater weight of his achievements in the Lete Hall of Fame.
For the tireless native of Frosinone, it was yet another season of the highest level: 3,607 minutes across 48 appearances, 41 of them as a starter, making him Atalanta's third-most used player behind only Marco Carnesecchi and Marten de Roon.
A campaign enriched by four assists, all in Serie A, and four goals. In front of goal, Zappacosta repeatedly left his mark on key moments of the Nerazzurri season, from the temporary 2-0 against Cremonese to the European night against Borussia Dortmund, when his strike levelled the aggregate score before Atalanta completed the turnaround, a performance that also earned him the MVP award.
Added to those were the goal that decided the match against Hellas Verona, rewarded with both the MVP award and March's Goal of the Month, and the strike that made it 2-0 at San Siro against Milan, which finished runner-up in the May Goal of the Month voting.
And so the curtain falls on the 2025/26 Player of the Season. A huge thank you to all the Nerazzurri fans registered on the official Atalanta app who, through their votes, accompanied every step of the journey throughout the season!