Richard Keys reckons that Per Mertesacker should be named Arsenal’s player of the season after his FA Cup final performance against Chelsea.

  • Mertesacker played in final because of Laurent Koscielny’s suspension
  • Defender had only played 37 minutes against Everton all season
  • Keys says BFG was best player for Arsenal v Chelsea

Despite playing just 37 minutes until that point, Mertesacker completed bossed Arsenal’s FA Cup final clash against Chelsea, helping the Gunners to a 2-1 win and their 13th FA Cup trophy.

However, while most Gooners, pundits and human beings in general recognised how brilliant the centre-back was and admired his ability to bounce back from injury so effectively, Richard Keys took his admiration to a whole new level, claiming that the BFG should be crowned as Arsenal’s player of the season.

“Never mind man of the match, Per Mertesacker should be named as a Arsenal’s player of the year [sic],” Keys wrote in his blog.

“He was awesome. If the win transformed Arsenal’s season – and it did – then Mertesacker had more influence on that season in that 90 minutes than anybody else.

“Case closed.”

While I’m not 100% sure Keys was being entirely serious with this comment, I can understand his logic. I mean, Mertesacker showed more leadership, heart and desire in that one game against Chelsea than a lot of the squad showed for the entire Premier League campaign.

It’s good to have him back.