“Foden has not taken Man City to another level” - Paul Merson claims Arsenal star deserved to be Premier League Player of the Season ahead of Foden

Pundit Paul Merson believes Arsenal's Declan Rice should've been awarded the Premier League Player of the Season prize over Phil Foden.

The latter of the two enjoyed a wonderful season with the Cityzens which saw him lift the league trophy at the end of it. During the course of the campaign, Foden contributed with 19 goals and eight assists in the English top-flight.

However, Merson is of the opinion that Rice, who was brought to the Emirates last summer for a reported £105 million, took the Gunners to a different level. He told Sky Sports (via Arsenal Insider):

"Declan Rice has taken Arsenal to another level. I think Phil Foden has not taken Manchester City to another level. I think he has been outstanding but Declan Rice has taken the Gunners to another level.

"He's just nearly got them to where Manchester City are. I think he has been consistent the whole season through. I mean Phil Foden has been outstanding. But, I am just thinking outside the box, just what I see."

Rice played largely as a number six after arriving but has shown his versatility, having been deployed in a more box-to-box role towards the end of the campaign. He's played every single league match for the north Londoners, bagging seven goals and nine assists this season.

However, Arsenal fell two points short of Premier League champions Manchester City, as they lost out on the title on the final day.

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Declan Rice shares message he sent to Arsenal teammates after last game of Premier League season

Declan Rice

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has claimed that he spoke words of motivation after the Gunners lost out on the Premier League title on the final day of the campaign (May 19).

Mikel Arteta's team managed to beat Everton 2-1 at the Emirates but saw Manchester City also win their outing against West Ham United 3-1. Speaking about his message for his teammates, Rice said (via The Boot Room):

"I think I've just said to the boys then, that feeling that we now have in our stomach, we need to live with that all summer and come back and know what the feeling's like of losing and take it into the 38 games next year because we're capable of winning it."

The Gunners managed to lead the title race for 248 days last season as well but lost out to Manchester City by five points in the end. Their last league victory was back in the 2003/24 campaign.