The six nominees for the Professional Footballers’ Association men’s Players’ Player of the Year award have been announced, with three Liverpool players on the shortlist.
Reds’ forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah and defender Virgil van Dijk have made the cut, with the latter two aiming to win their second such award.
They will face stiff competition from title winner Kevin De Bruyne however, with the Manchester City attacking midfielder looking to complete a hattrick of wins and become the first player to receive the award three times.
The other two contenders are Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kane started the season in awful form, recovering to score 17 goals for Antonio Conte’s side, but many will feel that his teammate Son Heung-min was more deserving of a nomination after the forward scored 23 to share the Golden Boot with Salah.
Ronaldo also had a great individual year scoring 18 on his return to English football but was unable to save United’s blushes with the Red Devils finishing the season in sixth place with their lowest points tally in Premier League history.
Nevertheless, his nomination does give him the chance, like De Bruyne, to become the first player to win the PFA award three times having previously triumphed in 2007 and 2008.
Among those to miss out are the likes of City’s Joao Cancelo, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, West Ham duo Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen, and Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse.
While Mane and Van Dijk have had impressive campaigns, Salah will surely be Liverpool’s leading candidate to win it after the Egyptian finished as joint top goal scorer and top creator with 13 assists and was voted as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year.
De Bruyne meanwhile inspired his side to their sixth title and their fourth in the last five years, racking up 15 goals and eight assists as well as claiming the Premier League Player of the Season prize.
The winner of the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award will be announced on the 9th June.
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