NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal with teammate Bukayo Saka during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on May 07, 2023 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The PFA Premier League Team of the Year is an annual award voted on by fellow Premier League players, with the players able to vote for anyone except their own teammates.
The voting is now open for this year’s award, and Brentford’s Ben Mee decided to make his choices public on Sunday, with three Arsenal players making the list.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Odegaard, and Bukayo Saka all made it into Mee’s team, following a strong league campaign for Mikel Arteta’s side.
You’d imagine those three will be popular choices from voters throughout the division, particularly with both Odegaard and Saka in the running for the Premier League’s Player of the Season award.
Mee witnessed first-hand the damage that Saka can do, with the winger providing three assists in his two games against Brentford this season.
Odegaard was absent for Arsenal’s win over Brentford early in the season, but there’s no doubt he and Gabriel have been two of the league’s top performers throughout the campaign.
Various other Arsenal players might be in with a shot at inclusion, particularly Gabriel Martinelli and perhaps Ben White and William Saliba – who surely would have made it in if not for his recent injury.
The rest of the players will cast their votes in the coming days, though the official announcement of the winners reportedly won’t take place until August.