Martin Keown has claimed that one Manchester City player has been better than Virgil van Dijk this season.
Earlier this week, the nominees for the Premier League Player of the Season award were announced.
In addition to Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, also nominated were Van Dijk, Alexander Isak, Ollie Watkins, Cole Palmer, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.
With City and Arsenal involved in another title race, after Liverpool fell away over the past few weeks, one pundit has questioned the Dutch defender’s inclusion in this award nomination, mentioning another City player he feels is more deserving.
Keown baffled by Player of the Season nominees
Speaking on talkSPORT, Keown had this to say about the nominees.
He said: “We are going to talk about this Premier League Player of the Season nominees. I do find it a little bit strange that Van Dijk is in there, but where are [William] Saliba and Gabriel?
“You are going to say I am biased, but it’s time, I think, they got the credit they deserve. 17 clean sheets this season.
“Maybe there should be a few more mentions for defenders per se. [Kyle] Walker as well has faded a little bit recently. He has had a few injuries, but another player that we could have seen.
“Not quite certain that it is the season we would have expected from him. I have seen a lot of finger-pointing from him when he hasn’t quite gone in and dealt with things himself.
“I do say this, though. I think since [Jurgen] Klopp made that announcement that he was going to leave, you are leaving the building boss, so it’s almost like I know the respect that we have for him, but the King is dead, long live the King, there is a new man coming in, it’s hard to get the attention of the players.
“Look at David Moyes. Something similar is happening at West Ham. They are great leaders, they rely on a reaction from the players, and now they are going.
“Van Dijk has faded a little bit. I expected him to step forward in this moment to be the sort of leader of the pitch.”
Walker’s latest season at City
This season has seen the right-back, whom City paid £50m to sign from Tottenham Hotspur back in 2017, start 28 of the 29 Premier League games he’s appeared in prior to today’s away match at Fulham.
Across those games, the Englishman has racked up the second-highest number of recoveries (141) made in the City squad and the joint-second-highest total of interceptions (23).
Even though Walker’s overall performances have only earned the 33-year-old a season rating of 6.84/10 from WhoScored, which is lower than Van Dijk’s rating of 7.14/10 by the same metric, the fact that Keown thinks the City captain is more deserving of a nomination for Player of the Season shows just how much he has impressed the former Arsenal defender.