Henry backs Arsenal star to win Player of the Season as special praise reserved for ‘outstanding’ player | OneFootball

Club legend Thierry Henry has backed an Arsenal star to win the Player of the Season award after the win against Bayer Leverkusen.

Arsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 on aggregate to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, with Tuesday’s 2-0 win in the second leg securing their progression.

The Gunners could do something really special this season as they are contesting for the quadruple, with Mikel Arteta‘s side top of the Premier League, in the Carabao Cup final and still in the FA Cup.

The north London side have the best squad in the Premier League and arguably Europe, while they have several players who have a chance of winning the Player of the Season award.

Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are among the favourites, though Henry has backed David Raya to win the award.

“This guy should be in contention to be player of the season because of what he does for Arsenal every single time,” Henry said on CBS Sports.

“It’s very difficult sometimes to see what a goalkeeper does but he cannot make you win the game.

“He can make you hope that you’re not losing it by making saves but he does that two to three times every single game. It’s just outstanding.”

Ex-Arsenal forward Paul Merson, meanwhile, said his former side performed like a “machine” against Bayer Leverkusen and praised one of their backup players.

“Arsenal played very well at times. They are just rolling,” Merson said on Sky Sports.

“I don’t want to say ‘machine’ because it is disrespectful, but this is a machine that can do everything. They are a proper team.”

Merson added: “It was a brilliant performance. Onto the quarter-finals. Ben White was steady. Whoever comes in, he does a job.”

Merson also waxed lyrical about Rice after he doubled Arsenal’s lead in the second leg, claiming the England international has been “absolutely outstanding”.

‘What a goal. They were under pressure, Leverkusen. Some great defending from [Jarell] Quansah and then [Viktor] Gyokeres’ shot got blocked for a corner when he should have passed it to Saka,” Merson commented.

“The corner gets cleared to Declan Rice, it’s coming out the air, he takes a touch… you think he’s going to shoot, he takes another touch and then whips it in the corner.