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Former Premier League forward Peter Crouch believes up to five players could be named the Player of the Year but claims it's too early to decide.
On Friday, 29 April, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was named the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year. The Egyptian is currently the Premier League's top goalscorer and also the highest assist provider this season.
Crouch named Salah as one of his candidates for the award, as well as fellow Reds players Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane.
The former England striker also mentioned Manchester City pair Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne. Both midfielders have enjoyed stellar campaigns for Pep Guardiola's side.
With Liverpool and City still locked in a gripping title race and potentially meeting in the Champions League final in late May, Crouch believes the award should go to a player from whichever team wins the league title.
In his Sportsmail column, Crouch wrote:
"If Manchester City win the Premier League and Champions League, you would have to pick Phil Foden or Kevin De Bruyne. I’d potentially go for Foden because he has consistently been a shining light for them."
The pundit continued:
"The performances of Virgil van Dijk have been an absolute joke. Sadio Mane as well."
The former Tottenham and Aston Villa forward also mentioned Salah's statistics and claimed:
"Those five names are my list and it has to be one of them. If the two clubs trade trophies, Salah pips the others in my view for his sheer weight of goal contributions."
Crouch confused by timing of Player of the Year awards
The 41-year-old also expressed his views on how early end-of-season individual awards are decided and claims the system needs to be changed. He wrote:
"I’m often left surprised by how early they are generally done. The winner has to come from the best team and the best team is often unknown until May. All the awards should be left as late as possible and I always thought voting for the PFA Player of the Year was done far too early, often months before the season finishes."
"It seemed strange timing to me, with so much of the league left to play, and I could never quite get my head around why voting was not electronic either. There should be an app for your phone that takes 10 seconds to complete. More players might vote then, too."
