Gary Neville has picked Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard as the best player of the season, naming him ahead of Phil Foden and Declan Rice.
The Gunners have been a force to be reckoned with this season and could win the Premier League title on Sunday if other results go their way.
Odegaard has played a key role in ensuring Arsenal challenge strongly for the title again this term after they missed out last season, bagging eight goals and eight assists in 34 league appearances.
While Jamie Carragher opted for Foden while selecting his best player for the season, Neville picked the Gunners skipper over his Manchester City counterpart.
“I didn’t have to think about it at all,” he said on Monday Night Football.
“I think every game I’ve watched of Arsenal, he’s a beautiful player. He knits everything together. I love Rice, and I love Foden, but he is an absolutely unbelievable football player.
“He’s the best player in the league I’ve seen this season on a regular basis. He takes the balls on the half-turn and tries to play them through – the right type of passes.
“If he had, for instance, a striker who made those little darting runs like (Sergio) Aguero, the amount of chances he creates is unbelievable. I think that’s his peak this season.”
Odegaard has made things tick in the final third for Arsenal, regularly creating chances for the attackers.
He has been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season award and should also earn a nomination for the PFA Player of the Year award.
Odegaard has also been solid defensively and is a key part of Arsenal’s pressing game.
He struggled at the beginning of the campaign but quickly picked himself up and has been consistently impressive for a large chunk of the season.
Arsenal would have scored more goals and won more games if they had a striker capable of bagging 20 league goals per season given the number of goalscoring chances Odegaard creates.
Manager Mikel Arteta needs to bring in a prolific forward this summer.
