The 2022/23 Premier League Preview: Post-Season Awards

Who will be the big names this season?

JT: Player of the Season: Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City

I think De Bruyne has safely established himself as at least among the two or three best players in the league over the last half decade. The Belgian is simply bafflingly good, able to break open a game at any time and stun us with moments of magic. There is nothing that he cannot do, and I do believe that if City are successful this season, De Bruyne will be at the heart of everything. The addition of Håland adds a new dimension to this team, and it would not surprise me if we see De Bruyne able to find Håland with pinpoint passes in transition to create goalscoring chances. It is the safe pick, it is probably the boring pick, but it is the most logical one. Honorable mentions to Erling Håland, who will likely score enough goals to be considered for this, and Heung-Min Son, who should have won it last season and will likely be brilliant enough to be in contention for it this season as well.

Young Player of the Season: Erling Håland, Manchester City

This seems to be the most guaranteed of any of these. If Håland is even remotely as good in this City team as we think he could be, he will be a given to win this award. The Norwegian hitman, who is only 22 years old somehow, is already one of the best goal scorers on the planet and has joined one of the most creative attacking teams. Logic would dictate that boatloads of goals would follow, and if they do, then he is the no-brainer to win this, if not also Player of the Season. Honorable mentions to Arsenal duo William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli, who I believe could both be brilliant enough this season to be in this conversation.

Manager of the Season: Mikel Arteta, Arsenal

Arsenal have started this season on fire, playing scintillating football and being the team to watch in the league so far. Yes, they could still fall back to Earth and yes, this season could be very difficult at stages for them if injuries or drop offs in form happen, but I do still think Arsenal are capable of finishing at least fourth, if not higher. If Arsenal do get back into the Champions League at least, then it would be very hard to make a stronger case than Arteta would make for Manager of the Season. Yes, Amazon Prime showed us how dumb his drawings can be and how cringey his team talks can be, but it is clear that the Spaniard has improved this Arsenal team dramatically since his arrival. If that improvement continues, he will be your Manager of the Season. Honorable mentions to Antonio Conte, who should be effective enough at Spurs to be in this conversation, and Patrick Vieira, whose Crystal Palace side could potentially be a surprise package in the league this season.

Vikram: Player of the Season: Erling Håland, Manchester City

The Norwegian ace is lighting the Premier League up with outstanding performances and a goals-to-game ratio that is simply world-class. It pains me to say this but he will be the most lethal forward this season and it’s a real shame that he’ll be banging in the goals for the Cityzens. He’s already shown what he can do in the early stages and something tells me his best is yet to be. Håland is going to easily clinch the EPL golden boot this campaign and will cement his status as the 2022/23 Player of the Season.

Young Player of the Season: Erling Håland, Manchester City

He’s going to bag both awards cause firstly, he’s eligible for both and secondly, he’s a world-class talent.

Manager of the Season: Graham Potter, Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea

Mark my words. This will be Graham Potter’s season to shine. At Brighton, the Englishman instilled his “Potterball” football style, developing a team that was comfortable on the ball and produced many scoring opportunities in the process. The previous seasons have also demonstrated Potter’s incredible ability to unearth hidden gems across the globe. He arrives at Chelsea after Thomas Tuchel was ruthlessly sacked but I don’t think Potter will suffer the same fate (not anytime soon at least). He has the resources needed to recreate the magic he had at Brighton and has quality in quantity when it comes to players. It’s still early days and anything could happen but I sincerely think that Graham Potter will be crowned manager of the season. Watch this space.