It’s not long before we find out the PFA Player of the Year 2018 winner after the nominees were announced yesterday, so here we’ve put together our selections.
Read on to laugh, mock and be enraged by our writers’ choices for Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Team of the Year. Yes, there’s a lot of love for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, but we’ve got a couple of intriguing choices in there as well…
Mohamed Salah
With one of the most memorable debut seasons in living memory, it’s hard to see past Mohamed Salah’s individual brilliance. Kevin De Bruyne is boosted by having lethal forwards around him to boost his assist numbers, not to mention world class quality in nearly every position in this Manchester City team. Salah is a unique talent and just edges it for me after making history for Liverpool – the most goals ever for a player in their debut season with the Reds, only the 8th player to score 30 in the Premier League era, and the most goals by an African player in a single season.
Mohamed Salah
30 goals and nine assists in his first 32 Premier League games for Liverpool, who are one of the most dangerous teams in the world right now thanks to the Scouse-appointed Egyptian King. Without Mohamed Salah, the Reds would be probably be scrapping with Arsenal and Burnley for sixth place, but his royal influence could yet see a sixth European crown delivered to Anfield come May.
David de Gea
It’s unlikely that a goalkeeper would win it, but for me there’s no one more important to their respective club right now than David de Gea is to Manchester United. The Spanish shot-stopper has single-handedly kept United in so many games this season, with stats from the Telegraph recently showing he’d prevented close to 14 goals this term, most memorably perhaps in that win at Arsenal, when it’s hard to believe the home side didn’t score five against United that day. De Gea deserves more recognition, not just for his form this season, but for the fact that he could well go down as one of the finest ‘keepers this country has ever seen.
Kevin De Bruyne
Despite Mohamed Salah’s Messi and Ronaldo-like numbers this season, Man City’s Belgian maestro has been a shining star in one of the most entertaining teams the Premier League has ever seen.
Racking up 15 assists with five games still to go, not a lot stands in the way of the former Chelsea man picking up the accolade for most assists in a Premier League season, and if Liverpool fail in their pursuits of the Champions League, De Bruyne would have won two more major trophies over the Egyptian (providing that City don’t somehow throw the league away), a factor that should contribute to deciding who picks up the actual award come the end of the season.
Mohamed Salah
It is inevitably a two-horse race but Mohamed Salah has to edge it. If you take Kevin De Bruyne out of Manchester City this season you lose creativity in abundance. However, if you take Salah out of the Liverpool side you lose 30 goals, which is a far greater loss in the grand scheme of the Premier League. Salah is the perfect forward in the modern game as a fast and mobile attacker who is willing to press high up the pitch for 90 minutes. What a season from the Egyptian god.