Cole Palmer favourite for 24/25 PFA player of the year award

Dave Tickner
Cole Palmer, Chelsea, September 2024
Enzo Maresca felt Cole Palmer could have scored seven for Chelsea

The season has barely begun, but we are already into a third international break so we’re already thinking about who might succeed Phil Foden as the PFA player of the year. Or perhaps Foden will retain his crown.

Stranger things have happened – like for instance that time when Man United won the literal treble but David Ginola scored some nice goals while being very handsome and nipped in to pinch this award as assorted United stars carelessly split the vote.

Here are the current favourites for this season’s prize, according to the latest best odds available at Oddschecker.

 

10) Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Was appreciated very much in his absence as Arsenal’s title challenge pretty much fell apart.

 

8=) Gabriel and William Saliba (Arsenal)
Lumped together in the betting so lumped together here. If Arsenal win the Premier League title, it will be largely down to the best defensive pairing in the Premier League.

 

7) Phil Foden (Man City)
Scored a whole bunch of goals to win this title last year but 2024/25 has started at a trot rather than a gallop.

 

6) Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Will proving that The Game Has Officially Gone help or hinder his chances? Only time will tell for the Arsenal and England midfielder, but missing out on the chance to take the p*ss out of Spurs is a significant early sacrifice.

 

5) Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Still the best playmaker in the division and has the huge advantage of having a large number of the chances he creates falling to Erling Haaland instead of, say, Rasmus Hojlund at United or Darwin Nunez at Liverpool or nobody at all at Chelsea.

 

4) Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
The statistics have him pegged as the player of the season so far, but Arsenal losing pace on Liverpool keeps him off the podium here.

 

3) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
The brilliant Egyptian has made a fine start to the season, a key factor in Liverpool themselves making a fine start under Arne Slot, and if Liverpool can stay top for a decent chunk of the season it’s hard to imagine Salah become less crucial to that. May also benefit from being a more obvious standout at Liverpool than any of the City or Arsenal lads who are his major rivals here.

 

2) Erling Haaland (Man City)
He was the early favourite but has dropped with Man City’s form despite scoring more than a goal a game with two hat-tricks and a new assortment of records falling into his lap.

 

1) Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Can he replicate last season’s outlandish breakthrough season with a Chelsea side that is, against all the odds, if anything even more ludicrous than last season’s? Yes, he probably can to be fair; he scored four goals against Brighton.