The nominations for the Premier League’s annual awards came out a couple days ago, and while Chelsea unsurprisingly aren’t well represented in them at all, we do have one solitary nominee: Cole Palmer, for the league’s Young Player of the Year honor.
Palmer of course won this award running away last season after what was a most wondrous debut season for us.
It’s fair to say that this season has not been quite as amazing, especially in the second half of the campaign, but the recently turned 23-year-old has still amassed 15 goals and 9 assists in the league — more goal contributions than any of the other nominees for this award, and by some distance.
You can vote for Cole here until May 19.
The other nominees for this award are Liam Delap (12g+2a), Morgan Rogers (8g+9a), Anthony Elanga, João Pedro (10g+6a), Ryan Gravenberch (key to Liverpool’s midfield), William Saliba (Arsenal think he’s amazing), and Dean Huijsen (soon to be Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen).
Gravenberch is the only “Young Player” to be also nominated for the main Player of the Year award, alongside his teammates Mo Salah and, for some reason, Virgil van Dijk. The other nominees include Nottingham Forest duo Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White, the surprising Bryan Mbeumo, the excellent Alexander Isak, and the former Chelsea trainee Declan Rice.
Title-winning manager Arne Slot leads the nominees for the Manager of the Year award, and should be a shoo-in. Eddie Howe (Newcastle), Nuno Espírito Santo (Forest), Vítor Pereira (Wolves), and Thomas Frank (Brentford) will have to make do with the honor of being nominated.