The Premier League and other European leagues only have three or two league games to round off the extremely very demanding 2020-21 campaign, which serves us with the thrills and spills parts of the game despite the absence of the fans.
It’s a known fact that the beautiful game of football has always seen top players rise to the occasion when it matters most, while some failed to.
As such, the trend would never stop as long as the game of football remains with us, and we would continue seeing players that would prove invaluable and influential to their team while some won’t.
All through the season, we’ve seen some top players shone out disappointing performances, while some have been very inspiring and instrumental for their respective clubs in scoring the goals or been active in other areas that concern the team performance on the pitch.
Here Are CheapGoals Premier League Most Influential Players For 2020/21 Season
- Ruben Dias – (Manchester City/Portugal)
Pep Guardiola been a top manager right from his days at Barcelona and he isn’t known to be one of the managers that gets his centre defender signings spot on. The name that comes to mind in his days at Barcelona is a certain Ukrainian international Dmytro Chygrynskiy who fared poorly in his debut season.
Another player that seems to be toeing the line of Chygrynskiy is John Stones who was also signed by Pep. However, he’s been able to turn the corner and shake off his nervy performances when he joined the Cityzens by ditching out superb performances with his recent partnership with the man of the moment Ruben Dias.
This time around Pep Guardiola got his centre defender signing right by bringing in Benfica’s Ruben Dias for €56.6m to fill the void left by the Belgian Vincent Kompany, who departed the Cityzens club a year before.
With factually all City centre backs out due to injury & Covid-19 related issue last season, Pep had to resort to partnering Rodri or Fernandinho with any of the fit defender available in the team in their quest to compete favourably on all front.
With the team fragility in the defensive third last season with the team conceding close to 35 times in 38 games, it is expected that the club hierarchy would back him up with cash to comb the transfer market and get a top defender.
Luckily, he got his man in Ruben Dias, and without mincing word the Portuguese have forged a strong partnership at centre back with Stones with resolute and solid performances for City.
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- Bruno Fernandes – (Manchester United/Portugal)
Manchester United have also enjoyed a topsy-turvy season under Ole Gunnar Solskjear. However, they’ve been able to turn the table thanks to what the Portugal international brings to the table in terms of goals and assists both in the Premier League and Europe.
Bruno scintillating performance has kept the Red Devils on course in qualifying for Champions League football next season, and also put them in a good position of winning a trophy this season should they triumph against Villarreal in the final.
Since Fernandes landed at Old Trafford, he has shown over time that he’s the saviour of the team and arguably the talismanic presence that inspired the team countless times with his goals, assists, and all-around performances on the pitch.
No disrespect to every other player in the team who have in one way or the other contributed immensely to drag the Red Devils to where they’re now. However, the Portuguese has proven to us that he’s the bedrock of Manchester United, and most importantly he’s the main reason for the notable improvement of Ole’s team this season which is quite evident in the Europa League and Premier League.
Fernandes may have gone through a patch of a barren run at some point this season, but he’s been able to shake off the runs by finding his moments again. Apparently, this season he has been able to show that he’s the diminutive man for United going forward in terms of creativity, eye for goal, passing and dribbles.
- Harry Kane – (Tottenham Hotspur/England)
In the 2014-15 campaign Harry Kane came out of nowhere to become the phenomenon he is now at Tottenham by scoring 21 goals that season.
The following season the England international was dubbed a one-season wonder, however, looking back at that statement in that year with what Kane has done for the London side you could tell he’s not a one-season wonder, but a world-class player that could lead any top team attack.
Kane meteoric rise in front of goal and to the top of European football has been evident with his performances for both the English national team and Tottenham Hotspur.
The North London club season both in the Premier League and Europe may have dwindled, and their chances of playing in Europe next season may be going out of sight week in week out, yet the England international never relent in putting the ball at the back of the net.
In spite of the woeful season the North London club has experienced, Harry Kane has come out top amongst the team with 21 goals and 13 assists in the Premier League. With his contribution to the team this season, we can gladly say the England international is definitely Tottenham Hotspur most influential player of the season.
- Emiliano Martinez – (Aston Villa/Argentina)
Aston Villa signed the Argentine goalkeeper from fellow Premier League side Arsenal for £17m, and since then he’s been a notable part of the meteoric rise of Dean Smith’s Villa side.
This season Martinez has been among the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, and it would be an understatement to say he has been one of their best player with a save percentage of over 80.0% aside from Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish who has also been fantastic for the Midland club.
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The former Arsenal goalkeeper top performances for the Midland club has no doubt prove invaluable for the club. Apparently with the statement of the team manager which says “Martinez will be a key player for our club for the long term”, and one would agree with the fact that the Argentine shot-stopper would be a key factor for the Midland club going forward.
Highlighting some of Martinez’s exceptional techniques in between the sticks is his brilliant and topnotch ability to save the ball. Though the Midland club form has regressed in the Premier League recently, which has open the goalkeeper to conceding but then Martinez has been Aston Villa most influential player.
- Kelechi Iheanacho – (Leicester City/Nigeria)
The Nigeria international days at Manchester City before he joined the Foxes for a transfer fee worth around £25m wasn’t a palatable one under the leadership of Pep Guardiola.
Even when he joined the Foxes, he found life at the King Power Stadium very difficult to come by, which brought the club letting him go out on loan or outrightly sell him.
Fortunately, he put his bad form behind by repaying the trust Brendan Rodgers had in him with his latest scoring form especially when Vardy wasn’t available due to injury.
A far cry from a striker who had to wait 14 months for a Premier League goal from September 2018 to December 2019, he is Foxes’ top scorer this season with 18 goals, the first time since 2014-15 that Jamie Vardy has been in danger of not leading the way.
He’s also surpassed Didier Drogba’s 12-goal haul this year to become the highest-scoring African in the FA Cup’s history.
After recent on-pitch setbacks for the club, the Foxes now end their campaign on a high end with a maiden FA Cup title for the first time in the history of the club, thanks to Youri Tieleman’s stunning screamer that sink the high-pressing Chelsea side in front of 22,000 fans at the Wembley Stadium.
In their 137-year history, the Foxes had never lifted the FA Cup, having reached four finals and lost all. But everything changed on an occasion that built to a dramatic crescendo when destiny seemed to drag you over the line.
While Kelechi Iheanacho may not have had the same impact in the decider, the forward’s influence in winning the club’s FA Cup title certainly can’t be understated.
