Rio Ferdinand has declared it "laughable" that Bukayo Saka has been nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Season award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Premier League announced Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarrod Bowen, Joao Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-min and James Ward-Prowse have all be nominated for the award.
But there was no place on the shortlist for Ronaldo, despite the 37-year-old scoring 18 goals and providing three assists in the league this season. In comparison, Saka has found the back of the net 11 times and produced six assists in the same competition.
Although Ronaldo has been involved in more goals than his 20-year-old rival, Arsenal will finish above Manchester United in the table. Ronaldo hasn't exactly been snubbed by the Premier League since his return to English football, having won the Player of the Month award in September and April. Despite this, Ferdinand is not happy with the governing body's decision.
"Saka’s in the in the Player of the Year nominees?" said the ex-defender - who played alongside Ronaldo for six years - on his Vibe with Five YouTube show. "I wouldn’t have had Saka in there yet, as well as he’s done. I wouldn’t have had him over Ronaldo, no, not this season.
"Ronaldo should be in ahead of three of four of those guys in there. He probably doesn’t win it but in terms of nominees, it’s laughable.
"He’ll take it as a disrespect but these are the things that fuel him, he’ll be thinking, 'How dare you?' If it’s based on stats, he’s like, 'I’ve banged in more goals than most of them on that list other than Salah, so what are you talking about?'"
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According to the Premier League's website, Saka has "led the charge for an Arsenal team chasing a top-four finish for the first time since 2015-16" and "shown great character to bounce back" after missing the deciding penalty in the Euro 2020 final.
The Premier League also announced their nominees for the Young Player of the Season. Alexander-Arnold, Saka, Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher, Tyrick Mitchell, Mason Mount, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice have all been shortlisted for the honour.
And they've revealed their five candidates for their Manager of the Season award. Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp are joined on the shortlist by Newcastle's Eddie Howe, Brentford's Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace's Patrick Vieira. Voting for all three awards has now concluded and the winners are expected to be announced after Sunday's final round of fixtures.
