A quick trawl through the recipient list of the PFA Young Player of the Year award tells you that it is very much a prize worth winning, with the accolade having been bestowed upon the great and good of the English game since its inception back in 1973.
Ipswich Town legend Kevin Beattie was the first man to earn recognition from his fellow professionals, and he has been followed into the footballing hall of fame by countless players to have graced the very top of the game.
There have been 39 winners in total, representing 15 clubs, with three men forming a very elite group to have picked up the award on two occasions – those superstars in the making being Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.
Outside of them, there are far too many icons of the modern era to name, but to give you a taste of the kind of level you have to reach in order to take the top honour, here is a rundown of a possible top 10: Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard.
The current holder of the trophy, which he has presumably offered pride of place on the mantelpiece of his multi-million home, is Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, and he will hope to offer a suitable defence of that crown.
.@hkane28 is the fourth Spur to lift the award after @GlennHoddle (1980), @kylewalker2 (2012) & @GarethBale11 (2013). pic.twitter.com/z47TNUXORJ
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 26, 2015
He is among those considered to be leading contenders within the sports betting markets of 32Red Australia, with there a wide range of topics – focusing on events across the globe – ripe for your consideration from a company which prides itself on being ‘Second to None’.
The 2015/16 tussle for personal prizes looks set to be as fierce as it has been for some time, though, with there being numerous names that could be offered, even before we reach the hectic festive period and the halfway mark of the season, as being deserving of recognition come the end of the campaign.
The good news for England boss Roy Hodgson, as he continues to count down the days to the 2016 European Championship, is that several of the stars to have illuminated the Premier League galaxy thus far will be eligible for a seat on the plane/train to France.
Of those, Kane – as the only out-and-out goal-getter on Spurs’ books, until January at least – will be backing himself to get close to, if not beyond the benchmark he set in 2014/15 when bursting onto the scene with 31 goals in all competitions.
Raheem Sterling has shown no signs that a turbulent summer, in which he attracted plenty of negative publicity, and a £49 million price tag are weighing heavy around his neck as he impresses for Manchester City, while Dele Alli is flavour of the month at White Hart Lane having belied his tender years to become a key performer at club level and scorer of a spectacular strike on his first start at senior international level.
Of the non-homegrown talents hoping to build upon a positive opening to the season, Liverpool’s Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho currently heads the field with 32Red at 7/2, while Manchester United’s big-money summer signing Anthony Martial is available at 6s with UNIBET and boasts bags of potential.
It is, however, easy to argue that a man currently priced at 8/1 by 888sport, with five players at shorter odds than that, could be the one to take the crown and offer a welcome pick-me-up to his bosses for club and country.
Ross Barkley’s ability is without question, with many billing him as a potential Gazza mark two, but last season’s struggles at Everton saw many begin to ask probing questions of a man still only 21 years of age and working on finding the consistency that will lift him among the elite.
He has rediscovered that standard this term and would be hard to ignore in PFA polling if he is able to maintain his current levels.
Of those who perform a similar duty for their side – Coutinho, Sterling, Alli (he may be slightly more enforcer than creator) – Barkley has outperformed the lot thus far.
Coutinho is his closet challenger in all of the important playmaking departments, but the Toffees academy graduate betters him in assists (four to three) and attempted assists (25 to 17), while the pair have netted five goals apiece.
Barkley then works his way back on top when it comes to dribbles (59 to 42), total passes (661 to 503) and touches (951 to 755), underlining just how important he is to his respective cause and how eager he has been to pull the strings this season.
That bodes well for Everton and England in the immediate future, and you get the feeling that the Merseyside native would not look out of place alongside the illustrious names that have preceded him were he to go on and scoop a prestigious personal accolade – in the process becoming the first man to take that particular prize to Goodison Park.
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