Crouch picks ‘relentless’ Liverpool star as his player of the year despite losing out on award

Jason Soutar
Peter Crouch at at the Champion Hill Stadium

Peter Crouch reckons Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah should have been named Premier League Player of the Season.

Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne won the award ahead of Salah despite the Egyptian leading the league for both goals and assists.


Manchester City, Conte, Howe and more are our Premier League 2021/22 season winners


City beat Liverpool to the Premier League title on Sunday after a dramatic comeback win against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

The Reds fell just short, losing out by a single point, despite Salah’s terrific season. He scored 23 goals to share the Golden Boot with Tottenham’s Heung-min Son, and also won the Playmaker Award for most assists in the league.

Writing for the Daily Mail, former Liverpool striker Crouch picked his end of season awards, selecting Salah as his player of the year.

“It’s got to be Mohamed Salah, that has to be the general consensus,” Crouch said.

“The sheer volume of goals and assists and that relentlessness to be at his maximum. Looking at Liverpool, I absolutely love Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk’s the best around at centre half but Salah brings that extra edge to them every week.”

Crouch also picked West Ham midfielder Declan Rice as his young player of the year, saying: “He is the heartbeat of that West Ham team and I like players who go out there with a smile on their face and look like they’re enjoying it.

“He’s gone from being a holding midfielder, a sitter, to become this dynamic player who is capable of doing all that defensive stuff but can go past people and take a game on.

“West Ham’s European journey was largely down to him and I think he is a future England captain.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool have completed the signing of Fulham teenager Fabio Carvalho.

The Portuguese teenager is understood to have signed a five-year contract, and will officially join on July 1, the Reds announced on Monday.

Carvalho scored 10 goals in 36 league matches for Fulham this season.