"A worthy winner" - Paul Merson chooses between Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne for Footballer of the Year award
Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah and Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne are two of the leading candidates to win the Premier League Player of the Year award this season. Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has shared his verdict about who could come out on top between the two in the race for the accolade.
Salah has been the frontrunner in the race for the Premier League Player of the Year award this seasonm following another prolific outing for Liverpool in front of goal. However, De Bruyne has also had a brilliant season, and he has bolstered his chances with spectacular performances in recent games.
Official | 2022 FWA Footballer of the Year ranking:
🥇 Mo Salah
🥈 Kevin De Bruyne
🥉 Declan Rice
Merson believes Salah would be a worthy winner of the award but added that De Bruyne could overtake him with a late flourish. The Englishman wrote in his column on Daily Star:
"Kevin De Bruyne is making a late case for footballer of the year. But Mohamed Salah is a worthy winner, in my opinion. Sometimes I think we should wait until the end of the season before voting for these things because it could still be De Bruyne who decides the title. His ankle is better; he's fit again, and he's flying."
He continued:
"And he is on a different planet to everyone else when he is playing like that. When he bursts through, he can still play the absolutely perfect weight of pass. He's just been outstanding the last few weeks."
It's worth noting that De Bruyne had a troubled start to his campaign, with an ankle injury limiting his impact earlier on. The Belgian returned to the top of his game just before the turn of the year and hasn't slowed down since then.
Mohamed Salah, though, has been a force in Liverpool's attack throughout the campaign. That is one of the reasons Merson believes the Egyptian has the edge in the race for the accolade.
#ManCity sources feel Kevin De Bruyne's starring role in the #PL title race would have gained him some late votes to put pressure on Mohamed Salah.
[via @MattHughesDM] twitter.com/City_Xtra/stat…
"But De Bruyne had a spell earlier this season when he was coming back from injury and wasn't very good. Salah has been consistently good," said Merson.
Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne's numbers in the Premier League this season
Mohamed Salah is the most prolific finisher in the division at the moment, leading the goalscoring charts with 22 goals, alongside 12 assists in 34 games. Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, has a return of 15 goals and seven assists in 28 appearances.
It's worth noting both players are helping their teams fight for the league title this season. However, the Belgian has a better chance to triumph, with Manchester City leading the title race with 89 points, three points ahead of the Reds, with two games left.