Premier League Player of the Season Contenders: Phil Foden Leads, De Bruyne Misses Out

• The EPL Player of the Season conversation is set to take precedence in the coming days
• Whoever leads his team to the league title always has a good chance of winning the award
• Sports Brief looks at those contenders who could dethrone Manchester City's Erling Haaland

The 2023/2024 Premier League season is coming to its tail-end, with a lot of matters still yet to be decided.

With less than four pounds of matches to go, there is still a cut-throat battle for the title as Arsenal intend to right the wrongs of last season and beat Manchester City to the tape.

Only one team of Burnley, Nottingham Forest, and Luton Town will remain in the division next season as the rest drop alongside the already relegated Sheffield United.

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Aston Villa, meanwhile, will be looking to fend off Tottenham Hotspur and clinch the remaining UEFA Champions League spot.

But even as these collective ambitions happen, a number of players will have one eye on individual accolades at the end of the season.

David Raya is a clean sheet away from winning the Golden Glove as Erling Haaland faces stiff competition from Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins, and Alexander Isak to retain his Golden Boot.

2023/2024 Player of the Season contenders

Herein, Sports Brief looks at the possible contenders for the grandest prize of them all - the Player of the Season.

5. Cole Palmer - Chelsea

The Blues forward has undoubtedly nailed down the Young Player of the Season Award and could have similarly been a strong contender here if Chelsea were higher in the table.

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It is unfathomable that a player whose side finishes in mid-table wins the award, but the 21-year-old has been a class above the rest. Without his 20 goals and nine assists, Mauricio Pochettino's side would be battling relegation.

4. Ollie Watkins - Aston Villa

Olle Watkins has done enough to be England's frontman in Germany later in the summer. His only mistake, however, is playing in the same era as Harry Kane, who has been scoring for fun in Germany.

No one in the league has more goal involvements than the former Brentford striker. He has 19 goals and 12 assists - a major factor in Unai Emery's high-flying season with the Villans.

3. Erling Haaland - Manchester City

Recent talk has made Erling Haaland look like a striker who has scored only twice the whole season, while in essence, no one has outscored him in the division.

Admittedly, his performances have left much to be desired, but he has still conjured up goals in crucial moments for Pep Guardiola's side. His only undoing would be that there is a City player who deserves more credit than him this season.

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2. Bukayo Saka - Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has built a team that plays for each other, so much so that is hard to single out one player as the star of the team.

Captain, Martin Odegaard, has been mercurial with his passes and vision, Declan Rice has been a beast in the middle of the pack, and Kai Havertz has popped up with goals anywhere on the pitch he has played.

But the pick of the bunch has to be Bukayo Saka, whose goal tally keeps getting better and better. With his strike in the North London derby, the 22-year-old is up to 24 goal involvements for the season.

Guide Arsenal to the title and he might just pip our number one pick for the award.

1. Phil Foden - Manchester City

Good luck to Gareth Southgate as he tries to finalise his starting XI for Euro 2024. He has in the past left out Phil Foden, claiming he isn't perfect for playing through the middle.

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But this season, in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, the Englishman has stepped up for Manchester City's title charge, with everything going through him.

He has 16 goals and seven assists and should Manchester City win the title, it is hard to see anyone beat him to the award.

Other honourable mentions

As already mentioned, Rice, Odegaard, and Havertz have all played their part in Arsenal's title challenge. Liverpool's latest wobble sees their stars miss out on our list, but Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah deserved to be in there as well.

Despite missing almost half a season with injury, De Bruyne already has four goals and eight assists. Rodri hasn't lost a league game with Machester City for over a year now.

Who will replace Haaland as the Player of the Season? Or will the Norwegian make it back-to-back wins?

Statistics courtesy of Premier League.

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2024 Ballon d'Or candidates

In the same breath, Sports Brief compiled a list of the 2024 Ballon d'Or favourites following the conclusion of the Champions League quarter-finals.

It is highly unlikely that a player from the Premier League will win it this year after Manchester City and Arsenal were knocked out in the last 8 stages.