Ferguson and Caciedo nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year
Brighton teenager striking sensation Evan Ferguson and former Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo have been nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Award 2022-23.
The Seagulls duo join Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey and two Arsenal forwards in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the six man shortlist.
To qualify for the award, a player must be aged 21 or under at the beginning of the campaign. Haaland just sneaks in having had his 21st birthday on July 21st last year. Both Haaland and Saka are also nominated for the main PFA Player of the Year award.
At 18, Ferguson is by far the youngest nominee for PFA Young Player 2022-23. And based on the current age criteria, he will still be eligible for the award in the 2027-28 campaign. Hope that doesn’t make anyone reading this feel too old.
Ferguson’s inclusion for 2022-23 is impressive because he only played for half the season. Roberto De Zerbi threw the Irish forward into Premier League action just after Christmas, from which point he scored eight times in all competitions.
No two of those goals were the same. Ferguson looks a complete striker with no noticeable weaknesses in his game, earning him comparisons at various points over the past eight months to Haaland, Alan Shearer, Duncan Edwards and the best of them all, Glenn Murray.
Amongst Ferguson’s haul was a bullet header at Leicester City which any target man would be proud of. He is as good on the ground as in the air, producing a first touch as if his foot was made of silk when controlling a pass fizzed in at pace by Alexis Mac Allister to score against Grimsby Town.
Ferguson let rip with an unstoppable shot when Southampton came to the Amex netted through pure power. The back heel at Plucky Little Bournemouth was cheeky beyond belief.
His first Premier League goal scored against Arsenal on New Year’s Eve involved similar audaciousness, sticking the ball through the legs of England international Araon Ramsdale having shown the strength of an ox to roll a Gunners centre back.
It came as no surprise to hear that Spurs were considering Ferguson as a replacement for Harry Kane. What will be a surprise is if Ferguson remains a Brighton player for another five years, as deputy chairman Paul Barber OBE joked was the aim during a recent appearance on talkSPORT.
The mind boggles at how much Ferguson will be worth by next summer, let alone 2028. More than the British record £115 million Chelsea have just paid for Caicedo, probably.
Ah yes, Caicedo. He joins Ferguson on the shortlist for PFA Young Player of the Year 2022-23 having been one of the stars of the season for Brighton.
Already an important influence under Graham Potter despite only having made his Premier League debut in April 2022, Caicedo moved from player with great potential towards genuine world class territory once De Zerbi arrived at the Amex.
His ability to win back possession, find his way out of tight spaces, pick a pass and cover an insane amount of ground from one end of the pitch to the other made him perfectly suited to De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1.
Playing as one of the two defensive midfielders alongside either Alexis Mac Allister or Pascal Gross, Caicedo went from strength to strength.
This was especially true after January, when Arsenal and Chelsea both failed to sign him. Many said Caicedo would down tools and upset the apple cart at the Amex at being “kept hostage.”
Such predictions could not have been further from the truth. Caicedo instead showed an exemplary attitude, knuckled down and helped the Albion qualify for European football for the first time as well as getting to within one penalty kick of the FA Cup final.
Ferguson and Caicedo are not the only Brighton players to be up for PFA Young Player of the Season Awards either. Katie Robinson has been nominated for the women’s version having been head-and-shoulders above any other Seagull in 2022-23.
Come Sunday night, Robinson might even be the second player from the Albion to win a World Cup in the space of nine months. She is part of the Lionesses squad who will face Spain at Stadium Australia looking to write a huge piece of English football history.
