Bukayo Saka has been nominated for Premier League Player and Young Player of the Season, with Aaron Ramsdale also nominated for the latter.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 01: Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on May 01, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on May 01, 2022. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

The Premier League announced their nominees for Player of the Season on Friday morning, with fan voting open at the above link until Monday, 16th May.

Those votes will then be combined with votes from the 20 club captains and a panel of football experts to decide the eventual winner.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka joins Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Heung-min Son (Spurs), and James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).

Meanwhile, both Saka and Aaron Ramsdale have both been nominated for Young Player of the Season (vote here).

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You’d imagine Salah is the favourite for the senior award with 22 goals and 13 assists, despite the high probability he’ll narrowly miss out on the Premier League title.

But perhaps the bigger takeaway for Arsenal fans is that Saka must now be one of the favourites for the two major young player awards.

Starting with the Premier League Young Player of the Season (which was introduced in 2020 for players 23 and under), Saka should only really have Trent Alexander-Arnold for competition.

It would be strange to nominate Saka for Player of the Season and then give someone like Phil Foden – who wasn’t nominated for Player of the Season – the Young Player of the Season award.

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates after scoring their team's second goal from the penalty spot during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on April 23, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates after scoring their team’s second goal from the penalty spot during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on April 23, 2022. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Then there’s the more prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Saka won’t have Trent for competition on that one, as the rules recently changed to require players to be 21 or under on the 1st of July immediately preceding the start of the season. Trent is 23, Saka is 20.

However, the PFA nomination and voting system will be entirely separate from the Premier League’s system, so there’s no guarantee that someone like Foden won’t prove more popular on their side.

To sum up, I wouldn’t go putting your life savings on Saka to win either award just yet, but this double nomination is certainly a good sign.

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