Salah, De Bruyne, Saka: Premier League Player of Season contenders ranked | OneFootball

The eight nominees for the Premier League Player of the Season award were announced last week.

Bukayo Saka has been nominated after a brilliant season with Arsenal, as has Tottenham’s Heung-min Son.

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) and James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) have also made the shortlist.

Fans, have until 18:00 BST on Monday 16 May to vote for their favourite.

The votes of the public will be combined with those of the 20 club captains and a panel of football experts.

The eight players have all had incredible seasons but there can only be one winner.

We’ve ranked the right contenders into categories based on their chances of being crowned Premier League Player of the Season.

No hope

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)

No disrespect to either player, who have been brilliant for their sides this season.

Saka has directly contributed to 19 Premier League goals and is a real reason why Arsenal are real contenders for the top four.

Ward-Prowse, meanwhile, has dazzled for Southampton, scoring nine times and assisting five goals from midfield.

But neither have a real chance of being crowned Premier League Player of the Season.

Saka has been nominated for the Premier League Young Player of the Season award and he has a much, much better chance of winning that.

Great season, but not quite enough:

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United)

Bowen’s progress this season has been quite remarkable.

In the 2020/21 season, he contributed directly to 14 Premier League goals. In 2021/22, he’s directly contributed to 29 Premier League goals (12 goals, 17 assists), with a game to go.

Unfortunately, we can’t see him winning the prize, but if he continues on his trajectory there’s no reason why he can’t win it in the future.

Outside chance:

Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

Cancelo and Alexander-Arnold are the best full-backs in world football.

They are so important to their sides and offer so much going forward. They aren’t the favourites to be crowned Premier League Player of the Season but you can’t rule them out completely.

Real contender:

Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Son has been on fire once again this season. He currently sits second in the goalscoring charts with 21 goals, while he’s also added 10 assists.

De Bruyne was a bit of a non-factor for the first half of the season, but he’s been quite scintillating over the past few months.

He was at his brilliant best with four goals against Wolves earlier this month, taking his overall tally to 15 for the season.

Both have a real chance of being crowned the victor.

Deserving winner:

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Salah hasn’t been at his very best in the last few weeks, but it’s important to remember what he did earlier on in the season.

The Egyptian was absolutely unstoppable for large periods of the season. He’s directly contributed to 36 goals (22 goals, 14 assists), which is the most in the Premier League.

He won the award in 2017/18, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he won his second this season.

Should have been nominated:

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

These three players can consider themselves unlucky that they weren’t among the nominees.

Ronaldo won two Premier League Player of the month awards this season, the only player who has done that.

He has scored 18 times for a United side that, quite frankly, have been abysmal. They would be much worse off without him.

Kane started off the season slowly but has been tremendous in recent weeks, while Van Dijk has shown why he is considered the best centre-back in world football in 2021/22.