Hours after Virgil van Dijk hoisted aloft the Premier League trophy and supporters at Anfield exorcised demons lurking for nearly four decades, Mohamed Salah sat alone.
In an already iconic image, the 32-year-old stared into the camera as the Premier League Player of the Year award, with a Golden Boot, Premier League trophy, Playmaker of the Year prize and FWA Player of the Year gong sat in front of him.
The Egyptian’s historic campaign – which saw him equal the record for goal contributions in a Premier League campaign – rightly saw him showered with an array of individual awards. And his performances proved crucial in Liverpool clinching a record-equalling top-flight crown.
One honour the forward neglected to include in an image that has garnered more than 4million views on X is the coveted Sofascore rating prize. Salah could be forgiven for missing the award but he nevertheless came out on top among all players in the top flight across the term.
The stats boffins crunch the numbers every matchday, producing a mark that encapsulates a player’s performance and at the end of the term, an average is used to find the league’s top 10 performers.
There are no prizes for guessing that Salah ranks above the rest but what was his average rating and who are the other nine stars that join him in the red-hot top 10 list?
Mohamed Salah produced arguably the greatest campaign in Premier League history for the Reds
The Egyptian was instrumental in Liverpool claiming a record-equalling 20th top-flight title
The 32-year-old was rightly showered with an array of individual prizes for his stunning season
Martin Odegaard – 7.31
The inclusion of the Norwegian is sure to raise a few eyebrows but you can’t argue with the numbers. In a disappointing season individually and for the club, Odegaard has still managed to chip in with three goals and eight assists.
The Gunners skipper appeared to suffer from the injury that kept him out early in the campaign for the entirety of it but his displays towards the end of the season will breed confidence that this underwhelming nine months is just a blip.
The Arsenal captain endured a difficult season for the Gunners but has ended the campaign strongly
Declan Rice – 7.36
The Englishman turned in perhaps his best season in north London and his average rating goes some way to showing it. Yes, Rice’s most spectacular moments came in the Champions League but he also starred domestically.
Rice featured in 35 Premier League matches for Mikel Arteta’s side and scored four goals and registered seven assists.
Declan Rice produced his best season for Arsenal since his big-money move from West Ham
Josko Gvardiol – 7.37
The Croatian’s move to centre-back curtailed his goalscoring exploits somewhat but Gvardiol’s early-season flurry cannot be forgotten. In a miserable campaign for Pep Guardiola’s men, the 23-year-old was near ever-present and started 37 of 38 matches.
He notched five goals but it’s his contribution at the back, helping the outgoing champions sure up their leaky defence and eventually clinch Champions League qualification that earns him a spot.
Pep Guardiola has depended on Josko Gvardiol in a season when his faith in many of his star players has waned
Youri Tielemans – 7.38
The Belgian deserves to be playing Champions League football next season, such were the quality of his performances for Aston Villa. Tielemans scored three goals and provided seven assists for Villa but had an injury-hit end of season.
Perhaps that played a part in Villa’s inability to beat Manchester United and finish in the top five. Unai Emery was only able to call upon his most trusted lieutenant for 28 minutes at Old Trafford, by which time Villa were already down to 10 men.
Youri Tielemans deserves to be playing Champions League football next season, such were the quality of his performances for Aston Villa
Mark Flekken – 7.40
The Bees didn’t have an especially great defensive record but it would have been a hell of a lot worse if Flekken wasn’t in their net. The Dutchman conceded a total of 55 goals and kept seven clean sheets in his 37 matches this term.
But that doesn’t tell the full story. No goalkeeper in the division had a higher save percentage than Flekken’s 73.6. The stopper is tied with Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez on that mark, while Jordan Pickford finished with 73.5 per cent.
Brentford’s Mark Flekken tops the save percentage rankings this season with a mark of 73.6
Bryan Mbeumo – 7.47
The Cameroon international produced a truly outstanding campaign to help the Bees to a top-half finish under Thomas Frank.
The Brentford star scored a superb 20 goals in the Premier League and also chipped in with seven assists. Ivan, who?
Bryan Mbeumo scored a mightily impressive 20 goals in what is expected to be his final season with Brentford
Matheus Cunha – 7.61
The Brazilian may end up being Mbeumo’s team-mate at Old Trafford and should the two combine, the Red Devils will be getting two forwards coming off the back of top campaigns.
Cunha notched 15 goals and provided six assists for a Wolves side that was battling relegation for most of the season. Time will tell if he can reproduce those kind of numbers for the Red Devils.
Matheus Cunha waves goodbye to Wolves after an outstanding season which helped stave off the threat of relegation
Bruno Fernandes – 7.62
Manchester United may well have been relegated if not for the performances of their talismanic captain.
Fernandes’ eight goals and 10 assists may not have gone towards a title-winning or even title-challenging campaign but they are nonetheless very impressive.
The Portuguese playmaker featured in 36 of United’s disastrous 38 matches this season so he must bear some responsibility for their torrid season. That being said, he at least has something to show for this efforts, which is more than could be said for most of his colleagues.
Manchester United may have been consigned to their first relegation in 50 years if not for Bruno Fernandes’ contribution
Cole Palmer – 7.63
That this season will feel like a downer for Cole Palmer just goes to show how ridiculous last season was for the young England star. Palmer ended this season with 15 goals and eight assists.
Not bad, but it’s a far cry from last term. Still, Chelsea achieved their objective of Champions League qualification so Palmer will finally get the chance to play in the competition for the Blues.
Cole Palmer endured a difficult second half of the season for Chelsea but still ended the campaign with impressive numbers
Mohamed Salah finished the season with 29 goals and 18 assists to equal the Premier League record for goal contributions
Mohamed Salah – 7.78
As Liverpool cruised towards the title Salah’s numbers suffered but, still, he managed to produce arguably the most impressive 38-game campaign.
The forward finished the term 29 goals and 18 assists. Not bad at all.