Metro has been running the rule over the leading contenders for the PFA Player of the Year award. The silverware gets handed out on April 28th, and Gavin Brown is convinced Michu will be the man holding it. Here’s why.
Mich-who?
The only one of the leading candidates with no prior Premier League experience, Swansea’s top scorer has taken to the English game like Arsene Wenger to a diminutive attacking midfielder who doesn’t score enough goals.
Michu, or Miguel Pérez Cuesta as his mum used to shout when he was late for his tea, has banged in 15 Premier League goals in 28 games. That’s more than any of the title-winning Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez have managed. And all this from a man who cost a laughable £2million – about the same as one of Aguero’s little toes.
Finding a new place
Michu hasn’t just excelled while adjusting to a new country, he’s also been getting to grips (pretty impressively, it has to be said) with a new position. The Spaniard rose to prominence with Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano playing largely as an attacking midfielder. With Swansea, the 27-year-old has played more with his back to goal, the furthest man forward in Michael Laudrup’s 4-3-3 formation.
Languid but strong, Michu can hold the ball up but also do the stuff which wins the top honours – turn, beat his man and finish with both feet and his head.
He’s done it at Swansea
Gareth Bale, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez are the only three players to have found the net more often than Michu in top-flight football this season and, with respect to Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge, they’ve been assisted by a more talented and more expensive supporting cast than Michu enjoys at the Liberty Stadium.
Still on the boil
Michu wasn’t the only one dealing with an unknown quantity when he arrived in the Premier League. The Spaniard was something of a mystery man for rival defenders and he used the element of surprise to plunder seven of his league goals in his first eight games. Familiarity could have blunted his game but, though the goals have been harder to come by since Christmas, Michu has continued to trouble the best, scoring against Arsenal and Chelsea in cup competition.
He also bagged a double against QPR last month – a team who really should have known better having also suffered a brace from the Spaniard last August.
Highly valued
If Swansea were to sell their prized asset this summer they could probably demand ten times the pittance they paid to get him from Rayo. That Michu is the bargain of the season is not in dispute. But that accolade isn’t enough, all things considered he’s the player of the season as well.
Click here to read why LUIS SUAREZ should be PFA Player of the Year
Click here to read why GARETH BALE should be PFA Player of the Year
Click here to read why JUAN MATA should be PFA Player of the Year
Click here to read why ROBIN VAN PERSIE should be PFA Player of the Year
~Metro » Football | Metro UK~
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