This Premier League season has brought many surprises and a lot of amazing performances. Now that this season is over and we end with Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea as the top-four clubs we take a look at each club’s MVP.
Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City came back to fetch their Premier League title from Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, who in the end, surprisingly had a strong finish to a tough campaign.
Talking the Reds, the race for the last two top-four spots and Europa League entries were again at boiling point on the final day of English top-flight football.
Chelsea didn’t enjoy the same joy as the Reds but their loss did not cost them as much as Leicester City’s did.
Leicester played Tottenham at the King Power and delighted the crowd with a six-goal thriller. However, the Foxes were on the wrong end of the result which meant they miss out on Champions League football again.
From one of the strangest Premier League seasons, we have gone ahead and selected the best-performing player from each team and state why the individual is being named the MVP of their respective team.
We are going to start with the top-four teams in the EPL standings, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
The Citizens were crowned Premier League champions for the fifth time on Sunday past, so we will start with Guardiola’s side. Kevin de Bruyne has been displaying an excellent level for many years, this year taking Manchester City to win the Premier League, Carabao Cup, and a Champions League final.
De Bruyne scored five goals and gave out 11 assists this Premier League season. Across all competitions, he scored nine goals and has 17 assists. De Bruyne created 131 shot actions during the season, being the player with the fourth-most chances in the EPL.
It was difficult to pick a single player from the Citizens since players like Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, and Riyad Mahrez played at an outstanding level all season. We decided that the playmaker of this team should be named the MVP because of his great performance all around in the season.
Also, if the Citizens win the Champions League, Kevin De Bruyne could be the main candidate for important individual trophies such as the Ballon d’Or and other high honors.
Honorable Mentions – Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan
It was impossible to make this list without naming Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan. The Portuguese center back was the backbone of the team and a revelation in defense, something that the Citizens very much needed.
Dias had a 93.6% pass completion and played a total of 2843 minutes, being the player with the second-most minutes on the pitch. He was signed last summer and he has already shown he’s one of the best center backs in the world.
Gundogan had his best season at the Etihad. The German arrived in the 2016-2017 season but hasn’t really delivered before as he has in this one.
He scored 13 goals and delivered 2 assists. Also, he was named Player of the Month for the months of January and February. He completed 91% of his passes and created 83 goal opportunities.
Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United
It is incredible how the Portuguese maestro has turned the Red Devils into real competitors. Manchester United lived some dark years where they did not accomplish anything and were playing a very poor brand of football.
They endured a lot of irregular seasons where they ended up in 6th place and even 7th place in the 2013-2014 season.
With Bruno, things have changed for the best as he has revitalized the football at Old Trafford. This season, the Portuguese scored 18 goals and delivered 12 assists in the Premier League.
He was the player with the most goals and assists for the Red Devils. The player that was closest to him was Marcus Rashford and he scored 11 goals and delivered 9 assists. Also, Bruno was the player with more shot actions created, with a total of 168.
Even though it was not enough for them to win a championship, next season looks very bright for United with the help of Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani, who also played a big role in the Red Devils placement in the EPL standings.
Also, the Portuguese won the Player of the Month award for November and December.
Now, we would see Bruno at the Euros with Portugal where he can keep showing his great level alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, and many other talented Portuguese players, many of them playing in the Premier League.
Mohammed Salah – Liverpool
The Reds made an incredible comeback this season. It got to a point where European competitions were far away from Klopp’s side’s reach but the Reds came back and qualified directly for the Champions League, with Salah being their best player.
The Egyptian scored 22 goals and delivered 5 assists during this EPL campaign. He came 2nd in the race for the Golden Boot this year, only behind Harry Kane who scored 23 goals.
Even though there were a lot of rumors that the relationship between Salah and Klopp has not been the best this year, the Egyptian delivered for his club and had an important role in the Reds achieving 3rd place.
It is unknown for many months what would happen with Salah’s future, but as of now, Liverpool fans have to be happy with the performances of the Egyptian this term. He needed to be the most important player in the team and he took the challenge on and delivered.
It was not the season that Liverpool expected after being Champions last year, but with more brilliant displays by Salah and his teammate around him, the Reds will be back and fighting for the English crown soon.
Mason Mount – Chelsea
Amazing! That is the best word to use to describe Mason Mount’s campaign. Only 22 years old, Mount was the player with the second-most shot creation actions in the league with 163, only five behind Bruno Fernandes.
He only scored 6 goals and picked up 5 assists but how he played for Chelsea this season was stunning.
Being one of the best young players in England, Mount was the leader in the middle of the park and was the one who gave life to Chelsea this season.
Tuchel’s side achieved 4th place on the EPL table and got to the Champions League final, mainly thanks to Mason Mount. They were also runners-up in the FA Cup, following their 1-0 loss to Leicester City.
If Mount is performing this well at 22 years old, the Blues have a bright future ahead with the academy player in the squad.
Chelsea has an interesting squad full of young players who are at an amazing level and can turn Chelsea into one of the biggest contenders for the next decade or so.