John Barnes names 4 players who could win Premier League Player of the Season award

Former England forward John Barnes has tipped Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Ering Haaland and Darwin Nunez to be contenders for the Premier League Player of the Season award.

English clubs will return for the 31st edition of the Premier League on Friday (August 5). Arsenal and Crystal Palace will face each other at Selhurst Park in the first match of the league season.

Barnes has tipped Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to retain their places in the top four. He has now backed players from Manchester City and Liverpool to fight it out for the Player of the Season award.

Barnes admitted that he cannot predict who will win the award before the campaign starts. However, he feels De Bruyne, Salah, Haaland and Nunez are early contenders for the accolade. He told Bonus Code Bets:

"I can’t put anyone forward for player of the season, because we’ve not seen one game in the Premier League yet. We can talk about Haaland, Nunez, Salah, De Bruyne."

He added:

" It probably doesn’t branch further than those four I’ve mentioned but I’ll have a better idea after seeing a few games into the season. I know from a consistency point of view, Man City and Liverpool will be there."

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Manchester City and Liverpool have dominated the Premier League Player of the Season award recently

Manchester City and Liverpool have enjoyed significant success when it comes to the Player of the Season award recently. Players from those two clubs have won the accolade for five years in a row.

Liverpool's Salah and Virgil van Dijk were crowned the Player of the Season in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Last term's winner De Bruyne has won the award twice, taking it home in 2020 as well.

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias was named the winner of the award in 2021. Barnes expects a player from those two clubs to win it again this season, with Haaland and Nunez potential candidates to earn it in their debut campaigns.