The PFA Players' Player of the Year has been Kevin De Bruyne's two years running: but Mohamed Salah is pushing him close this time around
(Image credit: PA)
The PFA Players' Player of the Year award is set to be awarded this month, in the midst of a thrilling title race.
This will be the first award post-lockdown, with the last two editions of the PFA gong going to Manchester City metronome Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian is, of course, once again in the running – but no one has ever won it three times in a row.
Let's cycle through the runners and riders for one of the most prestigious awards in the English footballing calendar.
PFA Players' Player of the Year: The bookies’ favourites
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All season long, Mohamed Salah has been in a conversation about being the best footballer on Earth. It should come as no surprise then that the Premier League's top scorer is the odds-on favourite for the PFA Player of the Year award.
The Egyptian King hit 16 goals in his first 20 appearances of the season before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations, including moments of pure genius against Manchester City and Watford, before a stunning hat-trick against Manchester United.
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Has he gone off the boil since his return? Perhaps a little. The first half of the season should be more than enough to win the gong, however.
While Salah had a stunning start to the season and a quieter second half, Kevin De Bruyne has done the opposite, beginning City's campaigns with a few injury niggles before returning to form later on.
De Bruyne has turned it on when all eyes have been on him at the Etihad, scoring a brace in the Manchester derby, netting against Chelsea and running the goal with a goal against Liverpool most recently. Pep Guardiola challenged him to get on the scoresheet more: will it be enough for his fellow players to vote for him?
Antonio Conte says he's running out of superlatives for his no.9 at Tottenham – and if this award was given for form post-Christmas, surely Harry Kane would have it wrapped up.
The England captain has won matches for Spurs all on his own, with a blend of creativity and finishing that's simply unmatched in world football right – more than making up for a meagre start to the campaign. 13 goals and assists in the last nine games might enough to trigger some recency bias in this voting process.
He's been used on the right-wing a lot by Pep Guardiola and last season played as a false nine on a few occasions. But Bernardo Silva's return to the centre of midfield has been inspired this season with imperious performances.
The Portuguese has been the most consistent performer in City's side by a mile, given that De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Gundogan and all the forwards have come in and out of the side. Bernardo hasn't been flashy but he's steadily earning a reputation as one of the best players on Earth at what he does.
Liverpool buckled without their defensive titan last season and it's plain to see just how important he is to them this time around.
Virgil van Dijk has once again been the outstanding centre-back in the league this season. This is being voted for by players, remember: how many forwards will give their pick to the most difficult player they faced all year? You can count on the giant Dutchman being the trickiest competitor for most, too.
Whether at centre-forward, on the right or the left, Phil Foden has taken his displays up another notch this season. The young England man may have played less football than some of his contemporaries but his impact has been huge.
Foden is rapidly becoming one of the most fearsome forwards on the continent and he's still 21. Having hit the double figures in combined goals and assists this season, he may well be on voters' minds.
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
