Liverpool FC News: Surprise Red tipped for PFA Player of the Year

Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has named Liverpool's Darwin Nunez as his preferred choice for PFA Player of the Year.

With just seven games to play in the 2023/24 season, it's the time of the year when thoughts start to turn to individual awards.

As Liverpool duke it out with Manchester City and Arsenal for the Premier League title, there is arguably no clear runaway candidate for this season's best player.

The likes of Phil Foden, Declan Rice and Rodri are among the likely candidates from other clubs, while Liverpool have a couple of very strong contenders in Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.

However, former Red Johnson has revealed his vote (if he still had one) would actually go for another Liverpool man in Nunez.

“I’d probably go with a surprise, someone like Darwin Nunez,” Johnson told Squawka when asked who he would cast his vote for.

“People were saying that he doesn’t score enough goals, but when you think about the way that he plays, he’s probably the last person that you want to play against in the Premier League and that’s saying something with the other players that are available.

“But yeah I’d probably go with someone like Nunez because he’d probably be the first striker, other than [Erling] Haaland, that I’d want in my team.”

It's a bold shout from Johnson, who made exactly 200 appearances for Liverpool and was included in the 2008/09 PFA Team of the Year, but it's nice to see Nunez getting some recognition.

Often unfairly derided by rival fans, Nunez has enjoyed an impressive second season at Anfield and has 19 goal contributions in 29 league outings to date.

Only Salah has more Premier League goals than the Uruguayan's 11 in 2023/24, while he has also proven himself a man for the big occasion with match-winning strikes against the likes of Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.