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We’ve all got our favourites, but who is your player of the season so far?
It may seem early to make that call – after all, there are still almost three months of the Premier League campaign to go and everything is left to play for at the top and bottom of the table.
But, like it or not, March signals the start of voting season for the individual player awards. So, who deserves the top accolade from what we have seen up until now?
MOTD2 pundit Micah Richards has picked the six players he feels deserve to be on the Professional Footballers’ Association’s shortlist for men’s player of the year when it is announced next month – and reveals who would get his vote if he had to choose now.
Do you agree with him? See Micah’s list below [in alphabetical order] and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find out his winner. You can choose your player of the year too.
Casemiro (Man Utd)
Casemiro fact: Man Utd have lost just three of their 18 Premier League games this season when Casemiro has played, the same total they’ve lost in the seven games when he’s been absent.
Micah’s verdict: Casemiro has simply been brilliant in terms of the impact he has made on the rest of the United team.
We know what he did, and what he won at Real Madrid before he joined United in August, but there were still question marks over the signing.
He was coming to a new league at the age of 30. Could he adapt? Did he have the legs, or the hunger to succeed?
I wouldn’t say I was on the fence myself but I didn’t know how he would fit into Erik ten Hag’s team. I didn’t think he suited the high-energy style and high-pressing game that United were trying to play.
But he has proved all of us wrong, really. He’s been United’s stand-out performer, a threat from set-pieces and a real organiser and leader.
I remember when I was at City and David Silva and Yaya Toure joined, I would look at them and think I can trust them because they have been there and done it all before.
That’s the effect Casemiro has had at United. He brings a calmness to the rest of the team and it was a real shock to see him have a bad game against Liverpool this weekend because that has just not happened before.
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Haaland fact: Erling Haaland has scored 27 goals in the Premier League this season, the most by a Manchester City player in a single campaign in the competition. He passed the 23 goal mark reached by last season’s Golden Boot winners, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, after only 20 games.
Micah’s verdict: It’s not just the number of goals Haaland has scored that impresses me the most, it’s the way he has been able to adapt so quickly to the Premier League after his summer move from Borussia Dortmund.
Of course there is still so much to improve about the way he fits into the way City want to play. But at 22 he is only going to get better, and he has made a phenomenal start, much better than I imagined.
We talked so much last season about City not having a number nine to finish off chances, especially in their Champions League semi-final defeat against Real Madrid when they ended up playing with defenders up front.
Haaland was the answer, and he has more than lived up to expectations.
I felt it was unfair to compare him with Liverpool’s new striker Darwin Nunez at the start of the season, because that wasn’t fair on Nunez. I squashed that so-called battle straight away.
Nunez was young and promising, and is showing us now what a great player he can become. Haaland already is one – he is a guaranteed goalscorer – game after game, season after season.
Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
Mitoma fact: No player has made more take-ons in the penalty area than Kaoru Mitoma (17) in the Premier League this season.
Micah’s verdict: I think the other five players I’ve named are dead certs to be on the PFA’s shortlist, but I have gone for a bit of a wildcard here.
There are no Liverpool players involved, as brilliant as they were against Manchester United on Sunday, because too many of them have had disappointing seasons.
I haven’t included Kevin de Bruyne, either. He has still been very good for Manchester City, just not as brilliant as we know he can be.
Arsenal’s Thomas Partey could have been in there, and Brentford striker Ivan Toney had a shout too. Harry Kane keeps on scoring goals for Tottenham as well. Those three were very close.
Fulham’s Joao Palhinha has been one of the signings of the season but I don’t think he quite makes the list – instead I am going to go with Mitoma at Brighton.
I love how he has essentially got a degree in dribbling – he studied how to beat players as part of his thesis when he studied PE at university in Japan.
Some attacking players hit a purple patch where they are in form for three or four games, but Mitomo plays well every week – he might not score or get an assist each game he plays, but he always beats his man.
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Odegaard fact: Martin Odegaard has created more chances than any other Arsenal player in the Premier League this season (59) – 47 of those have been from open play, with only Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (60) and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne (52) creating more that way in 2022-23.
Micah’s verdict: I love Odegaard’s journey and the way he has put his career back on track.
He was big news when he joined Real Madrid aged 16 but then things seemed to drift and I was wondering if he would ever realise his potential.
Odegaard was 22 when he joined Arsenal on loan from Real in 2021 and you only get so many chances at big clubs. I wasn’t sure whether he would take off, or fade away.
There are plenty of examples of talented teenagers who don’t quite live up to the hype. I always think of a player called Sergio Canales who I used to buy on the Football Manager game all the time.
In real life he also joined Real as a teenager, aged 18 in 2010, and he was another wonderkid, who I thought was the next best thing. For whatever reason it did not quite turn out that way, although Canales played for Spain and has had a very good career, he did not hit the heights I thought he would.
So, for Odegaard to turn things around for himself like this is impressive, especially in one of the world’s most competitive leagues, and then to take the responsibility of captaincy to inspire his team too.
He has taken the challenge on and has helped turn Arsenal into title contenders, as the driving force in their midfield.
Odegaard reminds me of my old City team-mate David Silva in the way he wants to get into pockets of space, get on the ball and dictate play. He does it all so effortlessly too, and I love watching him play.
Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
Rashford fact: Marcus Rashford has averaged a goal or assist every 94 minutes for Manchester United this season, the second-best ratio of any Premier League player across all competitions (with a minimum of 10 goal involvements), after Erling Haaland (70).
Micah’s verdict: It’s not Rashford’s goals that have got him on my list – Ivan Toney has scored as many as he has in the Premier League, and in fewer games – it’s the fact he is scoring them at such vital times.
He has scored at least once in 15 of the 21 games he has played since the World Cup, and 10 of those goals have either been United’s first goal of the game, or the winner.
I can understand why he struggled last season, because he was under so much pressure to perform and meet expectations while a rebuild was going on at United.
This season, he has been exceptional. To be honest, though, it’s just what I expect from Rashford because he has got so much quality.
I think he was one of the players distracted by Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at United. Rashford probably wasn’t sure whether he should be looking after himself in front of goal or trying to feed Ronaldo all the time.
Now he is the main man again. I think that’s one of the reasons he has got his belief back, and wherever he has played, up front or coming off the left, he has been absolutely sensational.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Saka fact: Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 19 Premier League goals this season (10 goals, 9 assists), his best ever return in a single campaign in the competition.
Micah’s verdict: Saka is just relentless, isn’t he? His numbers are brilliant but his all-round play and his mental strength are just remarkable as well, especially for someone who is only 21.
He is always willing to take big penalties and he is never fazed, whatever the occasion or situation in the game – he steps up in big moments.
Saka is one of the main reasons Arsenal are challenging for the title and, regardless of whether they win it from here, he has just been unbelievable and he seems to just get better and better.
He is a winger but unlike, say Anthony at Manchester United, is always involved in the game.
As well as influencing games with his goals and assists, he allows his team-mates to flourish. The inverted role he has, where he comes inside, allows Ben White space out wide and their relationship is just incredible.
And the winner is?
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Micah’s verdict: It has to be Haaland for player of the year, and I don’t see that changing. I don’t care what happens, even if Arsenal go on and win the league, because for someone to have hit the numbers he has is just amazing.
This is an individual award and he has broken every goalscoring record going. What he is doing is very special and you have to recognise that.
