Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Manchester City have a star who is the Player of The Year and he no longer thinks it is Phil Foden.
Ferdinand did not clarify whether he was referring to the PFA Players’ Player of The Year or the Premier League Player of The Season award.
Last month, the popular pundit claimed that Foden was at the “top of the tree” as the “Player of The Season” when it comes to the Premier League.
But now, Rio Ferdinand has changed his mind.
Such is the nature of the English top-flight this season where there have been a whole host of impressive performers.
Especially among the top three of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
With City just being separated by one point by the two teams as well as the constant twists and turns in the title race, opinions seem to be changing at will.
During the Sky Blues’ 4-1 victory against Aston Villa, Laura Woods told Phil Foden that Rio Ferdinand was “screaming [Andres] Iniesta” every time he picked up the ball.
Rio Ferdinand says Phil Foden’s City teammate is the Player of The Year
The Manchester United legend also claimed that Kevin De Bruyne might have felt the pressure to perform in Manchester City’s 4-2 win against Crystal Palace after Phil Foden’s hat-trick against Aston Villa.
As the ‘Stockport Iniesta’ continues to go from strength to strength, it is becoming difficult for pundits not to notice how his importance to this City side has reached an all-time high.
However, such debates around the best player in the Premier League will continue to change, especially as it seems like the likes of De Bruyne and Haaland seem to be back in form.
Furthermore, it is in the final stretch of a title run-in where one truly realises which players are made for the pressure moments.
Fortunately for Pep Guardiola, he has plenty of players at his disposal who have a reputation for thriving when all eyes are on them, such as Foden, De Bruyne and Haaland.
Another one of them is Rodri, who Rio Ferdinand now thinks is the Player of The Year in the Premier League.
“The worse game I’ve seen Rodri play was Palace at the weekend because he made one mistake and they almost scored”, Rio Ferdinand initially said about Rodri.
“I can’t deny that either, guys, my Player of The Year today, right now is Rodri.”
“I think [Phil] Foden’s close but I think Cole Palmer’s close, Ollie Watkins is close”, he said about the £62.5 million man on FIVE’s official YouTube channel.
Rio Ferdinand has held Rodri in high regard for quite a while now, once naming him as the most important out of any player in the Premier League.
Hard to disagree with Ferdinand about Rodri
Rio Ferdinand has also previously stated that Rodri could end up as the league’s best-ever holding midfielder and he believes the 27-year-old is already “in the conversation.”
Perhaps one reason why the Spaniard perhaps deserves an individual award is perhaps due to how consistent he is; arguably even more than Phil Foden.
Foden has been tremendous this campaign but at times, due to being shifted out of his favoured number 10 slot on certain occasions, there have been games where he has not looked his absolute best.
That might be harsh but unfortunately for the Englishman, Rodri has barely had a game this season, for both club and country in all competitions where he has even looked slightly quiet, which is perhaps why Rio Ferdinand believes he has been the league’s finest.