Graeme Souness picks Premier League Footballer of the Year ahead of Martin Odegaard – Football.London

Graeme Souness has named his Premier League Footballer of the Year and it’s not Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard. Instead, Souness believes Manchester City’s Phil Foden should take home the accolade.

Both Foden and Odegaard have been in sensational form for their respective clubs, with both players eyeing a Premier League title. However, Souness feels that Foden, a product of City’s academy, is slightly ahead of the Norwegian international.

Foden’s impact at the Etihad Stadium has increased year on year, with the young midfielder consistently delivering top-notch performances. His most recent masterclass came against Real Madrid in Europe, but he’s also had numerous game-changing moments in the Premier League.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Souness said: “‘The votes are being cast for the footballer of the year and Arsenal’s captain Martin Odegaard will have to be in the mix. However, Manchester City’s Phil Foden gets my vote. He has been outstanding. He appears to have that attitude where he wants to learn something new every day in training and we are seeing a real superstar in the making.

“His goal against Real Madrid in midweek summed him up. Calmness under pressure, he shifted the ball out of his feet and hit it so smoothly. He is a terrific striker of the ball. The standard of the quarter-finals were everything you would hope for.

“A fabulous watch, a great advert for Champions League football and Manchester City and Arsenal have nothing to fear going into the second legs. The only problem is every one of those teams will be thinking the same. That’s the mentality of the best players.”

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Foden, with five Premier League titles already under his belt since emerging as a key figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad, has surpassed the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.

Following City’s emphatic win in the recent Manchester derby, where Foden netted twice, Guardiola was full of praise for his young star. “He is the best player in the Premier League,” Guardiola proclaimed.

“It is the amount of games he is playing. He was always a talented player, but now he is more mature and understands more the game, especially defensively. He’s unbelievable. Winning games is when you become a world-class player. When he scores two goals, that gives me more pleasure than the other stuff [defensive work]. But the guy who doesn’t do that is not allowed to stay in this team.”