Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher sprung no surprises when it came to their player of the season, with both opting for Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
The Norway striker has made a flying start to life in the Premier League since joining City from Borussia Dortmund over the summer. He has broken the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season and has found the net more than 50 times in all competitions.
Haaland is already guaranteed the Football Writers' Player of the Year award, while the PFA equivalent could yet go the way of the Scandinavian. Haaland is also in contention for the Young Player of the Year crown, having only turned 22 last July.
“It’s the first time the Premier League has signed a player that we think is going to go on to be the best player in the world or is already at that level," Neville said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football. “Usually they go to Real Madrid, Barcelona, in the last few years they go to Paris Saint-Germain - they don’t usually come to the Premier League.
"We have grown players who’ve gone on to become the best in the world, like for instance, Cristiano Ronaldo - but he came as a young kid and then developed here and went on to become that. I felt like this player was a phenomenon when he came, you knew he was going to be special and what he’s done this season is out of this world.”
Carragher agreed with his colleague, saying “It’s like Messi and Ronaldo isn’t it in terms of that goal a game. And I was thinking about before Haaland, Man City had maybe the best striker in Premier League history in terms of out-and-out goalscorer - his minutes per goal were probably top of the list anyway - in Sergio Aguero.
“So how does Haaland score that many more goals than Aguero? When it’s a similar sort of team and same manager? So that just shows he’s an absolute freak, he’s a special player and I think these records are going to continue to be broke.”
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Neville and Carragher weren't in agreement over manager of the season, though, with the former selecting league champion Pep Guardiola whereas Carragher chose Eddie Howe. He made the call before Newcastle's game against Leicester on Monday, but gave his reasons after the Magpies secured their spot in the Champions League.
They also disagreed on the young player front, after both deciding not to allow themselves to give Haaland a second award. Both went for Arsenal players, though, with Neville picking Gunners captain Martin Odegaard and Carragher giving the nod to Bukayo Saka.
Haaland's achievements come after team-mate Jack Grealish sang his praises amid City's title celebrations. The England star blew hot and cold in his first season after a £100m move from Aston Villa, but reached a much higher level this term as Pep Guardiola's side made it three league titles on the spin.
"We’ve got a great relationship," Grealish said. "We come into training a lot together, we live in the same building, I’ve assisted him a few times. When you have a relationship like that off the pitch, on the pitch it makes it that much easier."
