Ranking the 6 nominees for PFA Player of the Year 2019
As we draw the curtains on another stellar Premier League campaign, it's time we look back at some of the outstanding performers of the season who've laid a compelling claim at the Player of the Year prize.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) have revealed it's top six nominees for the honor for the 2018/19 season: Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mane, Bernardo Silva, and Virgil Van Dijk, all of whom have had a prolific campaign for their respective teams.
With last year's winner Mohamed Salah failing to make the cut this time, we're going to have a new winner, although Hazard is the only player from the list to have won it previously for his performance in 2014/15 season.
Will he double his tally this time? Or we going to have a 41st winner in the list? Let's assess the nominees based on their performances and rank on the basis of who's more likely to clinch the prize:
#6 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
The Portuguese ace may have failed to replicate his club heroics for the Seleccao at the World Cup, but has taken to the new season with the Cityzens in a similarly spectacular fashion with which announced his arrival to the Premier League in 2017.
Incredibly skillful on the ball and possessing an exceptional eye for a pass, Silva has left the creative hubs such as David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in the dust to become the vital cog in Pep Guardiola's swashbuckling juggernaut. He has scored six times and assisted another eight goals in 32 appearances so far and is firmly on course to better his statistics from his debut season.
Besides being a technically gifted footballer, Silva also demonstrated his class off the field recently when he relinquished his man-of-the-match award and opted to pass it on to talented youngster Phil Foden, who scored the winner versus Tottenham Hotspur.