With 26 Matchdays in the books, it’s time to take an updated look at the top 10 contenders to win the Premier League Player of the Season award in 2023/24.
10. Tottenham ST Son Heung-min
Son Heung-min was one of the biggest disappointments in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign, as Tottenham failed to qualify for Europe despite a sensational season from current Bayern Munich man Harry Kane.
The South Korean superstar has been back to his superstar status in 2023/24, leading the way for a Spurs side that still has an outside shot at qualifying for the Champions League under new manager Ange Postecoglou.
Son has really stepped up as the main man up top, scoring 12 goals to place himself among the league leaders. He’s been so effective all-around, notching six assists and an average of 1.8 key passes per game.
9. Liverpool CB Virgil van Dijk
Back to being an impenetrable wall at the center of the Liverpool defense, Virgil van Dijk is once again setting the standard in the Premier League by not being dribbled past a single time in the 2023/24 season thus far.
Liverpool are first in the Premier League and look like the title favorites, even with Manchester City always lurking in the background and more dangerous with a (relatively) healthy Kevin De Bruyne.
Van Dijk is as good as any center back on the planet and a historically great footballer. Further, he is so important to the Reds with his positional discipline and leadership.
8. Arsenal DM Declan Rice
Signing Declan Rice was one of the most important moves of the summer transfer window in all of world football, because had the West Ham star ended up with Manchester City instead, this title race likely would have been over by now.
Rice has taken to the Emirates perfectly, giving Mikel Arteta a safety blanket and balance in midfield that was lacking. Although Rice can still reach yet another gear to his game, he’s already been one of the best in the business this season at any position.
Statistically, the 25-year-old is filling up the stat sheet, even directly contributing to a hefty number of goals from a deeper midfield position with four goals and five assists. He notches 2 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game, completing 91.4 percent of his roughly 67 pass attempts per match.
7. Manchester City ST Erling Haaland
With 17 goals in 21 appearances, Erling Haaland remains as dangerous as ever in the 2023/24 season after breaking the single-season goal-scoring record in the Premier League in his first season in England.
Haaland is a ruthless finisher and so underrated when it comes to setting the table for his teammates, notching five key passes with a healthy average of one key pass per game.
6. Tottenham AM James Maddison
James Maddison was THE Premier League Player of the Season favorite to start the campaign before an injury slowed him down, but when you look at his overall impact on Spurs in every phase of attacking play, he remains a prime candidate.
The former Leicester City star has been even better in his new environment, proving to be a centerpiece player for manager Ange Postecoglou and his new project.
Maddison is averaging 2.7 key passes and 2.7 fouls drawn per match for Spurs, making him the most irresistible playmaker in the Premier League both in terms of creativity and threat on the ball.
5. Brighton AM Pascal Groß
Yet the best playmaker in the English top flight this season has been none other than the legendary Brighton man, German international Pascal Groß.
A cult hero, Groß is legitimately a world-class midfielder who can play at that world-class level as either an attacking midfielder or deeper-lying playmaker.
Ever-accurate with his passing and ever-dangerous with the threat of those passes, Brighton’s resident magician quietly has 10 assists, 3 key passes per game, and 2 tackles per match. Talk about dominating games.
4. Aston Villa ST Ollie Watkins
The best striker in the Premier League this season and the best all-around striker in European football this campaign, Ollie Watkins has been a rocket on course to the moon under Unai Emery.
Watkins has been the big breakout star in the Premier League here in 2023/24, crushing all competition with 14 goals and 10 assists. Nobody except for league legend Mohamed Salah can say they have as many goal contributions.
Thanks to Watkins, Aston Villa are in prime position to shock the world and qualify for the Champions League. People have been writing them off as a flash-in-the-pan, but displays like those from Watkins clearly state otherwise. They look legit.
3. Manchester City DM Rodri
It isn’t easy for a defensive midfielder to rank so highly amidst a see of wonderful attacking talents putting up jaw-dropping goal and assist totals, but that’s the kind of impact Rodri is having for Manchester City.
A legitimate Ballon d’Or candidate, the Spanish international is averaging 1.3 key passes and 1.2 dribbles completed per game despite being the best defensive anchoring point in England – and in Europe as a whole right now.
Rodri has even scored six goals, with his technical quality and shooting from distance going underrated. Pep Guardiola has an ultimate equalizer in Rodri, who was key in City weathering an early-season storm.
2. Liverpool RW Mohamed Salah
Every year, Mohamed Salah is in tight contention for the Premier League Player of the Season award. Perhaps nobody in the history of the Premier League can match Salah’s level of consistent excellence, and he is still an absolute nightmare on the wing at the age of 31. Nobody can defend him.
Salah is right behind Erling Haaland on the scorer charts with 15 goals, and that’s despite the fact that he is a winger who has actually improved creatively with age.
The Egyptian icon has 9 assists to go with 2.3 key passes per game. He is changing up his game to become more efficient and creative vs. wearing himself out as a dribbler, taking advantage of the personnel around him after key summer upgrades.
On this list, he may be No. 2, but, really, the margin between 1 and 2 is so close that you can think of this as a “1b” ranking. It is a toss-up between these two world-class right wingers.
1. Arsenal RW Bukayo Saka
The edge goes to Bukayo Saka, simply because he has to do so many things for Arsenal that go beyond the goals and assists. And yet, Saka is stills the most important source of goals and assists in North London with 20 combined in 2023/24 so far.
Saka is as unselfish as they come, running his socks off on both ends of the pitch to start attacks, provide width, draw out defenders, and win possession quickly to start counters.
Still only 22 years old, Saka has ascended to heights U23 players rarely reach and has earned a level of respect due to his consistency that is so rare for his age. Saka is special, and everyone knows it.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.