3 Players Who Deserved A PFA Young Player Of The Year Award Nomination
As we breach into the home stretch of the 2017/18 campaign in the Premier League, the 45th Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) awards ceremony is almost upon us. On April 22nd, i.e this Sunday, we will get to see some of the best performers of the 2017/18 campaign being bestowed with the top honours of the league, and among them is also the prestigious Young Player of the Year award.
The likes of Ederson, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Ryan Sessegnon are the names in contention to become the brightest young talent of the season.
And even if the nominations have thrown up plenty of talking points - Kane's dubious inclusion, Sessegnon making the cut against all the odds - there are a few players who missed out, but thoroughly deserved to be on the list.
Here we take a look at the top three such young players who were undeservingly left out of the race for the award:
#3 Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
The aftermath of the 2016/17 Premier League triumph saw a sea of change transpiring in the Chelsea squad, especially in the defence. With John Terry departing and the dramatic decline of Gary Cahill, new players were brought in and groomed to take over the mantle.
Among them was Andreas Christensen, who returned to Stamford Bridge after impressing during his loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach, and took no time in establishing himself as a key figure at the back.
The Danish youngster has proved to be instrumental at the heart of the defence - his 98 clearances is second only to Cesar Azpilicueta in the squad, while notably, his average of seven defensive actions per 90 minutes eclipses everybody else. Christensen's towering presence in the box has also seen him win 67% of the aerial duels he participates in.
Even though all this hasn't translated much into success as the Blues have continued to struggle, he is undeniably a talent earmarked for the club's future and most certainly deserved to be in the reckoning for the award.