Football FanCast’s Premier League Team of the Season

On Sunday the curtain came down on another enthralling Premier League season. This one was special for a number of reasons.

The title may have been wrapped up within 90 seconds at the weekend, Phil Foden crunching home a ridiculous effort from outside of the box but the chase for league supremacy between Manchester City and Arsenal was a joyful ride.

City eventually prevailed by a margin of two points, much to the dismay of Mikel Arteta's side but they will be back next year, ready and waiting to topple Pep Guardiola.

There was also one last dance for Jurgen Klopp. It was back in January that the German announced he'd be stepping down from the Anfield hotseat but it wasn't until his final match, a 2-0 victory against Wolves, that the emotion truly began to pour out.

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By
Angus Sinclair

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There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Klopp and Virgil van Dijk embraced warmly, Trent Alexander-Arnold couldn't hold back the tears. It's just a shame they fell out of the title race with a few matches left to play.

So, who deserves the plaudits from a captivating campaign of action? Well, Football FanCast's expert writing team have had their say and here's who we thought was deserving in each category.

FFC's 2023/34 Premier League award winners

FFC also put together their Team of the Season which included a few notable omissions, particularly Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland, Arsenal's effervescent Bukayo Saka and the aforementioned Van Dijk.

So why did they miss out? We have our reasoning. Read on to find out…

1

GK – David Raya

Arsenal

Arsenal's goalkeeper position was a cause for great debate at the start of the season. Aaron Ramsdale hadn't done an awful lot wrong but Arteta sought to usurp him, bringing in Brentford stopper David Raya on loan.

The end result? A Golden Glove for the Spaniard who has been nothing short of exceptional between the sticks. His record of 16 clean sheets in 32 league outings isn't a bad tally, is it?

Raya's Premier League season in numbers
Games	32
Minutes Played	2,880
Clean Sheets	16
Stats via Transfermarkt.

2

RB – Ben White

Arsenal

What a campaign this was for the £50m signing. He has undeniably been the best right-back in the division and even if his refusal of an England call-up caused a bit of a stir, there is no doubting his quality.

A centre-back turned full-back, his relentless approach alongside Saka on Arsenal's right-hand side was a joy to watch. He's become a true marauder, timing his runs to absolute perfection in the final third.

White's Premier League season in numbers
Games	37
Minutes Played	2,994
Goals	4
Assists	4
Stats via Transfermarkt.

3

RCB – William Saliba

Arsenal

Three Arsenal players in a row, you say? It's hard to ignore just how good the club's defence was this season. They conceded just 29 goals in the Premier League, the best record in the division and had the third-best expected goals against (xGA) tally in all of Europe's top five leagues, only behind Juventus and unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen.

A large part of that was down to William Saliba who ended up playing every single minute of the campaign on his way to being nominated for the Young Player of the Season award.

Saliba's Premier League season in numbers
Games	38
Minutes Played	3,420
Goals	2
Assists	1
Stats via Transfermarkt.

4

LCB – Gabriel

Arsenal

Let's continue the Arsenal trend. Saliba is the man who often takes the plaudits but Brazilian centre-back, Gabriel, deserves his flowers too.

Bizarrely he didn't start the first few matches of the season but since then has made the position his own again. Jamie Carragher said last week: "I think if this partnership stays together for the next three to four years, we are talking about this alongside Ferdinand and Vidic, Carvalho and John Terry."

We couldn't really go with any other two players, could we?

Gabriel's Premier League season in numbers
Games	36
Minutes Played	3,044
Goals	4
Assists	0
Stats via Transfermarkt.

5

LB – Josko Gvardiol

Manchester City

Now, this was probably the hardest position on the pitch to select. Plenty of our writers voted for Tottenham's Destiny Udogie but it was Josko Gvardiol who just edged things, largely for his remarkable end to the campaign during the title run-in.

The Croatian scored four goals and registered two assists in his last seven outings. Pretty decent numbers for a defender, we'd say.

Gvardiol's Premier League season in numbers
Games	28
Minutes Played	2,329
Goals	4
Assists	2
Stats via Transfermarkt.

6

CDM – Rodri

Manchester City

What a player the Spaniard is. He led the charge again for City and only missed one match when he wasn't ruled out through suspension.

Rodri even added goals to his game this season, ending the league campaign with eight having found the net on the final day of the campaign.

Also assisting nine goals, it was a pretty special campaign for a player who is the best in the world in his position.

Rodri's Premier League season in numbers
Games	34
Minutes Played	2,938
Goals	8
Assists	9
Stats via Transfermarkt.

7

RCM – Martin Odegaard

Arsenal

The Norwegian received plenty of votes for Player of the Season from FFC's panel of writers but just missed out after a scintillating season in the middle of the park.

Martin Odegaard closed out the term with two assists against Everton on the final day to outline his qualities as one of the best creators in the division. Only Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins registered more assists than the Arsenal skipper's ten, but more on them later.

Odegaard's Premier League season in numbers
Games	35
Minutes Played	3,104
Goals	8
Assists	10
Stats via Transfermarkt.

8

LCM – Declan Rice

Arsenal

Arsenal weren't just battling City during the season but they also slugged it out the signing of Declan Rice last summer.

The former West Ham man eventually moved to the Emirates Stadium for £105m where he has been nothing short of a revelation. Like Rodri, he's added more attacking numbers to his game and celebrated the best offensive season of his career.

Rice's Premier League season in numbers
Games	38
Minutes Played	3,231
Goals	7
Assists	9
Stats via Transfermarkt.

9

RW – Cole Palmer

Chelsea

Man City may have won the title but they will surely have regrets over the departure of Cole Palmer, the man who was voted FFC's Signing of the Season.

No one expected his career to soar like it has but what a campaign it was for a man who finished second in the running for the Golden Boot. He surely has to be a shoo-in for a place in the Euros squad this summer.

Palmer's Premier League season in numbers
Games	34
Minutes Played	2,628
Goals	22
Assists	11
Stats via Transfermarkt.

10

LW – Phil Foden

Manchester City

The official Premier League Player of the Season confirmed himself as one of the most elite talents in the world throughout 2023/24, scoring a staggering 27 goals and supplying 11 assists in all competitions.

With him and Jude Bellingham in the same squad this summer, there is surely no reason England cannot with the Euros.

Signing off with two goals on the final day as City won the title, there were few better players around than Foden this season.

Foden's Premier League season in numbers
Games	35
Minutes Played	2,870
Goals	19
Assists	8
Stats via Transfermarkt.