Erling Haaland names his two picks for Premier League Player of the Season

Erling Haaland has named two players who he feels could have easily won the Premier League Player of the Season award.

The Manchester City goal machine has scooped both Premier League awards for the best player and best young player after scoring 36 goals in 35 games.

Haaland, who has registered eight assists in his debut season in England, made it a hat-trick of individual gongs with the FWA Footballer of the Year and could yet add the PFA prizes to his collection.

The 22-year-old was the overwhelming favourite after taking the league by storm but when asked about other top performers, he singled out both a club and international colleague.

Compatriot and Arsenal captain Odegaard was in fine form, scoring 15 times and contributing further with eight assists for the Gunners.

Haaland also talked up City midfield general Rodri, who has been unplayable for Pep Guardiola's side as they compete for a historic treble.

"If I had to pick another player to have won Player of the Year, I would say my Norwegian friend, Odegaard has had a really good season," Haaland told William Hill.

"There are also other teammates that could have easily won it because there’s a lot of players in the Manchester City team that have been outstanding this season.

"If you watch all of our games, you will see that Rodri has just been so solid throughout the whole season. I think sometimes he is a bit hidden because he is in midfield and he’s the one pulling everything together. I don’t want to say too many names, but maybe it could have been one of them.”

Image: Alamy

Haaland has struck a ridiculous 52 goals in 51 games in all competitions, breaking the goalscoring record set by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole for most goals in a single Premier League campaign.

He could end the season with three trophies, with City in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals in the coming weeks - and Haaland made sure to pay tribute to those around him.

Image: Alamy

"These awards would not have been possible without my amazing team-mates, the manager and all of the staff at the club who help me perform on the pitch," Haaland explained.

"Now we have two more finals to go and we want to finish the season strong."

Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Arsenal, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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