TODAY the voting opens for the Football Writers’ Association Footballer Of The Year award and there are two major contenders – Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.
Coincidentally, they face each other at Anfield on Wednesday when Liverpool take on Manchester City in the Champions League.
In the red corner, the greatest individual talent of the campaign. In the blue, the most-effective team player of the season.
It’s a genuine dilemma for most journalists. It’s the eye-catching goal ‑machine versus the man who does more than any other to make the best team in the land outstanding.
The cop out would be to keep your powder dry until you know the outcome of this tie then vote for the guy who’s been on the winning side.
But I’ve already decided where my vote is going. It’s going to the Belgian.
At the core of my decision is that I couldn’t contemplate a Manchester City player not winning this prestigious award after the season they’ve had.
They’ve won one trophy, will tie up the formalities of the Premier League title with a month to spare, and have been far and away the team of the campaign.
You’d be hard pushed to keep any of their players out of a season’s Best XI. But De Bruyne has been the best of the best.
He started the campaign as a 10 out of 10 most weeks, and has dipped merely to a nine as the campaign has progressed. His consistency had been phenomenal.
His contribution is less showy than Salah’s, only because everyone around him has also been playing at a very high level.
In fact, perhaps the biggest danger to him not winning the award is that David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho could split the City vote.
Salah, on the other hand, has been Liverpool’s stand-out performer, particularly in the last few months. No one would consider voting for anyone else in his team. He’s the obvious choice.
He’s setting Liverpool scoring records and he isn’t even a striker. His appeal is enhanced by the fact his impact on the Premier League second time round has been unexpected, considering his less-than-impressive time at Chelsea.
In any other season he’d be the overwhelming favourite for the individual awards and, indeed, may still top both the writers’ and the PFA’s Player Of The Year polls.
But City’s season has been so exceptional that it would almost constitute a crime against football if their players were passed over for individual awards just because it’s been a supreme team effort.
Maybe I’d be tempted to change my mind if Salah scores the goals that take Liverpool to the Champions League semi-final but that would be wrong.
So I’m voting De Bruyne and I’m voting today.
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