Mohamed Salah is the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for a second time because he has been the best player in the world.
I cannot disagree with the FWA awarding their prestigious gong to Salah because his contribution to Liverpool's chase for an unprecedented quadruple has often taken our breath away. The title will always go to the best team in the country over 38 games, but individual awards deserve to go to players who produce magic moments or sustained excellence across the season.
And no impartial judge can deny that Salah's performances in 2021/22 have been the work of a man at the peak of his powers. Without peeking at the FWA ballot papers, I've compiled my own top six for Footballer of the Year – in batting order. You may agree with some of my choices; you may agree with none. But I hope we can all agree my six of the best are all fine players in their own right.
1) Mo Salah
It's hard to argue with 22 Premier League goals, 13 assists and eight Champions League goals. Whenever I was tempted to put my cross on the ballot paper elsewhere, my mind kept wandering back to Salah's twinkling feet and ruthlessness in the box. At times, he has been the best player in the world this season.
His goal against Manchester City at Anfield last September was decorated with footwork like Fred Astaire, and the one he scored at Watford the following month was even better.
In 75 years, only seven other players have won the Football Writers' Association's award twice – Tom Finney, Danny Blanchflower, Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes, Gary Lineker and Cristiano Ronaldo. To be in such exalted company, Salah must be exceptional – and he is.
2) Bernardo Silva
It seems crazy that there was talk of Bernardo Silva leaving Manchester City last summer – he has been a joy to watch. Although he has been upstaged by Kevin De Bruyne in recent weeks, for the first half of the season it was Bernardo who called the tune at the Etihad.
When he moves the ball around the edge of the box and finds angles like a wasp in a jam jar, City are so hard to stop.
3) Cristiano Ronaldo
To score 23 goals in the poorest Manchester United team for maybe 35 years, at the age of 37, is little short of remarkable. How bleak would United's season have been without Ronaldo's goals and enduring class?
To me, it's an absolute no-brainer – he must stay at Old Trafford next season to help new manager Erik ten Tag's rebuild. And for continuing to deliver in the most demanding league of all, even when standards around him have fallen, it confirms Ronaldo as the greatest player of my lifetime.
4) Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool's pursuit of the Quadruple shows how much they missed Van Dijk last season, when they finished last season empty-handed and needed a sprint finish to make the Champions League.
Take Salah or Sadio Mane out of the front line and Jurgen Klopp can cope by bringing in Diogo Jota or Luis Diaz – but when VVD is missing at the back, they don't look so secure. Liverpool's chase of an incredible clean sweep simply would not have been possible without their rock at the back.
5) Kevin De Bruyne
One clueless pundit – who would prefer to remain anonymous – once said De Bruyne wasn't worth the £53 million Manchester City paid for him. How wrong can you be? He's been fantastic for the last five years. Based on his form on the run-in, De Bruyne deserved to win the award outright, but the title and European Cup are still there for him to end the season bathed in glory.
6) Declan Rice
To be frank, I don't think he's worth £150 million – yet. Rice needs to be scoring 10 goals a season to be in that price bracket, and I think he has more goals in his locker than the five he's scored for West Ham this term.
But every other aspect of his game is top-drawer, and he has been an inspirational anchorman in midfield for club and country. To maintain such high standards for 50 games is a tribute to his fitness and class.
