Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has been nominated for England’s player of the year award, but Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov was overlooked by his fellow pros despite being the Premier League’s top scorer.
Tevez has made the short list of seven in the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards on Friday after scoring 19 league goals so far this season — one fewer than Berbatov.
“Carlos made a controversial move from Manchester United to City [in 2009] — in fact, controversy has probably dogged him since he came to the country [Brazil],” PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor said. “He has come through in spite of that. He did well for United and now he has moved on and has been a real talisman for City in their attempts to break through into the top level of teams in this country.”
Berbatov’s United strike partner Wayne Rooney, who won the 2010 award, was also not nominated after a lacklustre season.
But Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, West Ham midfielder Scott Parker and Blackpool captain Charlie Adam were all nominated.
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale and Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri have been nominated for both the main PFA award and the young player prize.
“It took Gareth some time after he came to Tottenham from Southampton. In fact he had some adverse publicity, but suddenly he has blossomed — he has come through and more than fulfilled everyone’s expectations,” Taylor said. “[Nasri’s] skills under pressure are quite fantastic.” — Sapa-AP