Who will win the PFA Footballer of the Year in 2023/24? Phil Foden probably
The PFA Player of the Year is the individual award Premier League players covet most, voted as it is by their peers.
Erling Haaland was odds-on before the start of the season but a different name has now risen to the top; it’s all about the defenders and DMs in 23/24…
10) William Saliba (Arsenal)
We start in 100/1 territory with the only defender on this list. And if it could be any defender, it absolutely should be the Frenchman who has been excellent in the Premier League’s best defence.
9) Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
It’s a lot of Manchester City players, isn’t it? They do have a lot of good players.
8) Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Back to something approaching his best, but still likely to play third fiddle behind Rice and Saka if Arsenal do somehow win an unlikely title.
7) Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
He’s dead good at football, obviously, and dead good in an eye-catching and exciting fashion that attracts attention. But it’s not been a vintage season from Saka.
6) Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
It’s been a brilliant season for the Villa striker but may yet end with him among the unluckiest ever omissions from an England tournament squad.
5) Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Good effort for a League Two fraud.
4) Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
There is certainly something admirable in scoring 20-plus goals for this Chelsea side, but it’s almost impossible to win the PFA award from outside the title race.
3) Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Interesting this. Bukayo Saka was the early Arsenal favourite but Rice soon emerged as the key difference between the bottlers of 22/23 and the fighters of 23/24. Still, no real chance of winning this award with Man City winning the title.
2) Rodri (Manchester City)
Rodri has not lost a football match in over a year, so really he should win this and everything else. That’s just maths. He is simply an incredible footballer.
It would buck the usual trend, though. Roy Keane and N’Golo Kante are the only players who could really be described as defensive or orthodox central midfielders to have won the award in the Premier League era, with John Terry and Virgil van Dijk the only centre-backs to do so since Paul McGrath in 1993.
1) Phil Foden (Manchester City)
The double v Manchester United in early March was enough to a) match his best-ever Premier League haul b) remind us all that he is really quite excellent and c) propel him to second favourite in this market. He didn’t stay there for long as it became clear that he was the don. He’s already claimed the FWA Player of the Year award and this one looks like a shoo-in. He’s going to pick up All of the Awards.
