Former Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has now admitted that he believes one Arsenal star deserves to win the Player of the Season Award.
Arsenal stars Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard placed second and fourth, respectively, whilst Manchester City ace Phil Foden recently claimed the FWA Player of the Year Award.
The Premier League have now announced the nominees for their official Player of the Season Award. Forden, Rice, and Odegaard are all once again in contention.
Whilst Foden has undeniably enjoyed a fine Premier League campaign, Rice, in particular, may feel that he was unfortunate to miss out on being handed this individual accolade from the FWA, and will be hoping to come out on top when the official Premier League Player of the Season Award is announced.
The 25-year-old has been a revelation at the Emirates Stadium this season, since his club-record £105 million summer switch from West Ham United. Arsenal fans are convinced that Rice has already lived up to his price tag.
Alan Pardew backs Arsenal ace Declan Rice for Premier League Player of the Season Award
The England star has become a hugely important figure in Mikel Arteta’s side this season. He has added steel and physicality to the spine of the Arsenal team. Arteta has encouraged Rice to take up a more advanced role, and this change has paid off handsomely, as the player has proven that he can have an impact at both ends of the pitch.
Rice has now set his sights on becoming the best box-to-box midfielder in the world.
Alan Pardew believes that he would be a worthy winner of the Premier League Player of the Season Award, especially if Arsenal are able to win the title.
Speaking on talkSPORT (13/10/2024, 08:20), he said: “I don’t know where I would go with that, probably Foden, but the professional in me would say if Arsenal win, Declan Rice, because I just think the price-tag, the size of club, the way he has gone about it his business, when they have played well, he has been their best player, so I would slightly side with him.”
Declan Rice will value Premier League title above individual honour
If Rice is announced as the Premier League Player on the Season on May 18th, then few would be able to argue that he is undeserving of the honour.
As far as the player will be concerned, though, this individual award will be very much a secondary concern when compared to the Premier League title race, which will be decided between Arsenal and Manchester City on the final day of the campaign.