Former Liverpool defender and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has delivered a glowing assessment of Ruben Dias following his arrival at Manchester City last summer.
Carragher, writing in the Telegraph, was speaking ahead of Sunday’s huge showdown between current league leaders City and last season’s champions Liverpool.
“Should Manchester City win their third title of the Pep Guardiola era, it will be a triumph built upon their defence. Sometimes it is too simplistic to credit all this on one player, but a top-class centre-back is transformative”, Carragher said.
He added: “Good centre-backs can make everyone around them look better – Guardiola now has the same luxury with Dias. That’s not intended to downplay the renaissance of John Stones. He deserves much of the applause for City’s improved numbers.”
“Dias may be on the verge of joining the elite group of centre-halves named POTY. Based on the criteria, the award should go to someone who has had the single biggest impact on the destiny of the Premier League title. That makes Dias the current frontrunner…”, the pundit concluded.
Funnily enough, last season was, in spite of City’s poor domestic campaign, the first time one of our star players was finally recognised and voted as the PFA PoTY, with Kevin de Bruyne taking home the award after a remarkable individual season.
However, with City the current forerunners in the title race, and Dias’s superb form and undeniable influence on the team’s transformed fortunes, the Portugal international must surely be under consideration for the award this season.
Dias will have a perfect opportunity to consolidate his status as one of the league’s best players presently, with City notorious for failing to perform at Anfield.
Will Dias be able to help lead City to their first win at the ground since 2003?
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