Gary Neville has explained why he decided against selecting Marcus Rashford in his Premier League Team of the Season - after he picked Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli instead.
The Sky Sports pundit, alongside Jamie Carragher, chose his XI on Monday Night Football after another enthralling season in England's top-flight. Neville included four Arsenal players, four Manchester City players, two Newcastle stars and one from Brighton.
It meant there was no place for Rashford, who has enjoyed a remarkable campaign under Erik ten Hag. He has struck 16 times and grabbed five assists in 33 matches this term. The England international is the sixth highest-scorer in the Premier League and has spearheaded United's Champions League push.
Reflecting on his team on Twitter, Neville said: "My Team of the Season! When choosing a team of the season you get stuck on a few positions. My challenges were GK , left back, second centre back to go with Dias and Rashford or Martinelli on the left. The rest for me were certainties in my mind."
A fan replied: "I think if you were not an ex Utd player you would certainly have Rashford in the team. I know you are trying not to be biased, so fair play to you."
However, Neville was having none of it and said back: "Rashford and Martinelli have almost identical stats. It just came down to the football and combinations I’ve seen from Martinelli and Arsenals season with his impact on it."
Neville included Erling Haaland, Rodri, Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne as his Man City quartet, while Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba represented Arsenal. Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Pervis Estupinan made up the rest of the XI.
There were a couple of differences in Carragher's team, meanwhile. Alisson, Sven Botman, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah all made his side. Only two Arsenal players made Carragher's XI and he would receive plenty of stick from the Gunners fanbase on social media.
One said: "Change your formation to allow in Saka. I don’t see how Salah brushes him aside this season." Another added: "Only two Arsenal players is crazy to me. Also Haaland hasn’t been the best LW in the league?"
Carragher and Neville both agreed that Haaland was their player of the year, however. Neville said: "It’s the first time that the Premier League have signed a player that we think’s going to go on to be the best player in the world, or is already at that level. Usually they go to Real Madrid, Barcelona, in the last few years they’ve gone to Paris Saint Germain - they don’t normally come to the Premier League.
"We have grown players that have gone on to become the best player in the world, say Cristiano Ronaldo. I felt like this player was a phenomenon when he came and we knew he was going to be special. What he’s done this season is out of this world."
