Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand names his Premier League player of the season and two 'close seconds'
Yesterday at 10:43 AM
Rio Ferdinand has picked out Mohamed Salah as his Premier League player of the season, while naming his two ‘close seconds’ for the prize at the halfway stage.
Salah has enjoyed a barnstorming start to the 2024/25 campaign, racking up 16 goals and 11 assists to help Arne Slot’s rampant Liverpool open up a six-point lead at the top of the table.
The 32-year-old forward has also shone in Liverpool’s cup competitions, notching three goals and four assists, with the Merseyside giants fighting for silverware on four separate fronts.
While there remains uncertainty over his long-term future at Anfield, Salah has shown no signs of slowing down and the Egyptian will be desperate to boost his extraordinary numbers when the Reds take on West Ham this weekend.
The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Martin Odegaard, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka have also enjoyed strong starts to the season and find themselves among the bookmakers’ favourites to scoop the PFA Player of the Year award – last won by Phil Foden.
But legendary ex-Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand believes Salah has been a cut above the rest this term, stating on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast: ‘I’d go Salah. I think Palmer and Saka are close seconds.’
On his signing of the season, Ferdinand replied: ‘This is the worst Premier League signing of the season ever!’
Ferdinand added: ‘I think we should move on from that, I think it’s terrible.
‘It’s a poor selection. No disrespect to the players but there’s been no one like, “Wow!”, who jumps off the page and has been outstanding.
‘Last season it was Cole Palmer…’
One of Ferdinand’s guests on the podcast, Owen Hargreaves, agreed that Salah was the standout player at this stage in the Premier League, arguing that it was ‘not even a debate’.
‘I’m going to say Mo Salah and I’ll say Cole Palmer a close second,’ the former Manchester United, Bayern Munich and England midfielder said.
‘I think to be the best player, you’ve got to be in the top team, within reason.
‘I’m basing it on the fact that Liverpool are top of the league and his output is better than anyone’s goals and assists.
‘I’d say Cole Palmer is just behind… Bukayo Saka.
‘[Moises] Caicedo could be the most improved player, but if we’re going best player right now… it’s the team that is first and he [Salah] has got the best numbers. It’s not even a debate.’
Ferdinand put forward Enzo Maresca’s case for the Premier League manager of the season given the ‘circus’ he walked into at Chelsea in the summer.
‘My reason why [it’s Maresca]… Arne Slot has been amazing, don’t get me wrong,’ Ferdinand explained.
‘But he’s taken over a very good team, a stable team, a stable club, the manager says he’s leaving months before he’s leaving. He’s been able to prepare, the club hasn’t gone mad in the transfer window.
‘Slot comes into a well-oiled machine already. Yeah, it was stuttering a bit. He’s tweaked a few things, wasn’t crazy which I think is an art in itself and I give him credit for. They’re flying, top of the league.
‘Maresca has come into a circus. At the back-end of last season, they were in great form but, nonetheless, it was a kamikaze, circus season. All over the place, having to deal with saga after saga.
‘He absolutely settles the ship and they’re flying. Most chances created, most shots on goal, most goals, entertaining to watch, the lot.’
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