By now, many of you will have seen Jamie Carragher’s Premier League team of the season so far which he revealed on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football after his beloved Liverpool’s dramatic late win at Everton in the Merseyside derby.
However, as 2016 draws to a close, he’s been handing out Christmas awards left, right and centre in his latest Daily Mail column to reflect on a year which will definitely be most fondly remembered for Leicester City’s remarkable title triumph.
Among the awards which the 38-year-old bestowed upon current Premier League stars were the best player and the best signing in the calendar year of 2016 – so let’s take a look at who he picked and the reasons why.
CARRAGHER’S PL PLAYER OF 2016
In what can hardly be seen as a surprise selection, Carragher chose all-action French central midfielder N’Golo Kante as the English top-flight’s best player of 2016.
The Liverpool legend wrote: “He doesn’t score many goals or provide many assists – he scored just one in 2016 and only created another two – but there hasn’t been a more influential player in the league.
“I highlighted him 12 months ago for being that season’s outstanding signing, following his £5.6 million move from Caen to Leicester.
“He’s subsequently joined Chelsea for £29.2 million and even that looks outstanding value, given how crucial the France international has become for Antonio Conte’s side.”
Carragher added: “Kante was the driving force behind Leicester’s pursuit of history and now he might have a chance to add a second Premier League medal.
“The drop Leicester suffered and the upturn Chelsea have enjoyed hasn’t all been because of this marathon man – but his importance cannot be overstated.”
Statistically speaking, Kante has the best win percentage of any current Premier League star to have played more than 50 games in the division and he’s formed a dominant partnership with Nemanja Matic in the middle of the park during the Blues’ impressive 11-game winning run.
CARRAGHER’S PL SIGNING OF 2016
Now, to the signing of the season, and it’s fair to say that huge amounts of cash have been splashed around by every Premier League club in recent transfer windows.
This summer alone, Arsenal spent £34 million on Granit Xhaka, Sadio Mane cost Liverpool £36 million, Pep Guardiola brought John Stones to Manchester City for £47.5 million, while Paul Pogba’s £89.3 million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United broke the world-record.
However, as Carragher himself has said: “In a year which we saw the transfer record broken, the best acquisition is the one that arrived at Manchester United for no fee.”
Yep, Carragher has named Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the signing of the year, having arrived at Old Trafford on a free from Paris Saint-Germain on the back of a record-breaking 50-goal campaign.
“I felt critics looked at Ibrahimovic, when he was dominating in Serie A and Ligue 1, with an element of suspicion because he didn’t do it in the Champions League,” Carragher began.
“Things started to change when he scored four against England for Sweden during a friendly in November 2012, but now he has arrived in the Premier League, he hasn’t let us down, with 16 goals in 25 games (in all competitions).
“You cannot dispute he is box office. He is charismatic, powerful and a scorer of all kinds of goals. Zlatan has shown us why he has won 29 major honours – including 11 league titles – during his glittering career.”
Whatever you think of Ibra’s personality, at 35, surely he deserves everyone’s respect for having the courage to come to England at this stage of his career and prove himself as opposed to going to somewhere like China or America in a less competitive league.