Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland can get a prize. Photo: Dave Thompson / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 05/09/2024 13:43:57
Curiosities and celebrities: The nominations in the English top division were announced by the Premier League management on social media on Thursday. Haaland and Ødegaard are two of eight players who can be voted on in the battle to become the season’s best player.
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Alexander Isak, Virgil van Dijk and Aston Villa’s notorious goalscorer Ollie Watkins are the other nominees.
– I think Martin Ødegaard should win the award. Some will probably accuse me of wearing Norwegian glasses, but I think he has been the best, says Viaplay expert Lars Tjærnås to NTB.
– My reasoning is that he has had the biggest positive influence on one of the top teams throughout the season. He has taken further steps in what he was good at before – masterful overview, timing of passes, the ability to create imbalance and the ability to create goal chances and goals, says Tjærnås – and continues:
– But at the same time, he has improved quite significantly a couple of things that he has certainly worked hard on. He is a much better defender than before, both in pressure games and one on one, also in the physical duels. Moreover, he has become an even more clear leader on the field, and not least he has stood out and been brilliant in almost all the top games.
One of Ødegaard’s toughest challengers in the battle for the prize is, by all accounts, Haaland’s clubmate Phil Foden. The Manchester City star, who, like Haaland, is 23 years old, has been brilliant for the light blues.
A year younger is Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. The 22-year-old left City in favor of playing at the London club last summer. The first season at Stamford Bridge has taken most people’s breath away. 21 goals and eleven assists are the formidable result so far.
On Thursday, it was also announced which eight players have been nominated for the award as young player of the year in the Premier League. The list of eight names overlaps to some extent with the name of the year nominations.
Haaland, Foden, Palmer and Isak are also nominated there. So are Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and William Saliba.
The last to be voted for is Tottenham full-back Destiny Udogie. He is currently injured and will miss the rest of the season.
Haaland also won the young player of the year award last season. Before that, there were two straight awards for Foden. When the awards took place for the first time, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold was announced as the winner.
The award goes to a player who is 23 years of age or younger.
He has landed at Ødegaard for the following reason:
It is the fans who will vote for the winner of the award. Last season it went to Haaland.
(© NTB)