The news that Mohamed Salah had won the annual Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Player of the Year Award was greeted with barely a shrug by most who voted in this year’s prize. This one was never in doubt.
Several of Liverpool’s regular reporters were still sat at the AXA Training Centre when the news broke less than an hour after Arne Slot’s weekly press conference had concluded. I was actually walking the short distance from the front door to my car when Salah’s grinning face flashed up on my phone.
To say it was a worthy selection is the understatement of the season. The Liverpool winger hoovered up a staggering 90 percent of the vote. NINETY. Football writers haven’t been this unanimous since the decision to increase the half-time pie selection!
But Salah’s win lacked the usual media bombardment that precedes the FWA award’s confirmation. Usually, journalists spend the weeks leading up to the big reveal regaling readers with detailed explanations of who they think should collect the prize, and why. It’s a media routine that ranges somewhere between self-indulgence and genuinely thought-provoking, all with a sprinkling of bias added.
For those who care (there aren’t many), I voted for Salah without even giving it a second thought. It was similar to 12 months ago when Phil Foden was the obvious candidate, even if Ollie Watkins was worthy of some contemplation.
Last season, Manchester City’s No. 47 was outstanding. He scored 19 Premier League goals and provided eight assists in a title-winning season that featured several game-changing moments of individual brilliance. He scooped all three awards, the FWA, PFA, and Premier League, to underline what a stellar campaign he had enjoyed.
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Yet, had he produced that season in 2024/25, Foden would have ended the campaign without any personal awards. Salah has simply been too good; an insatiable combination of Egyptian elegance and unrelenting ruthlessness in front of the goal.
At times, he has single-handedly powered Liverpool to the league’s summit. There are too many virtuoso displays to name, but displays at Old Trafford, the London Stadium, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium stand out, in addition to home wins over City and Spurs.
With three games left, Salah sits on a remarkable 46 goal involvements for the season. In comparison, Foden managed 27 in his exemplary 23/24 campaign. In fact, the Liverpool forward needs just one more to equal the all-time goal involvements record set in a Premier League season (when 42 games were played), and two to set an all-time league high.
He’s also just two shy of the assist record set by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry, and needs to net twice more to reach the 30-goal tally, something only 10 players have managed in the division’s history. It’s a feat Salah has, of course, achieved before, and his 32 goals in 2017/18 are the second highest for a player in a 38-game season.
(Image: Getty Images)
That he’s still operating at the game’s upper echelons seven years later is testament to his enduring talent. Salah is a Premier League icon; now a genuine candidate for the league’s all-time best.
And 2024/25 will likely be his acme. This may be the greatest Premier League season of all time. How does it compare to Alan Shearer (1994/95), Henry (2003/04), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/08), or Luis Suarez (2013/14)? In numbers, at least, this Salah season is unquestionably on top.
So no wonder so few bothered writing about who should win this year’s award. If there were an all-time Premier League season prize, this Salah iteration may well scoop that too.
