William Saliba (Arsenal), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool): Three exceptional centre-backs and leaders – it’s not necessarily about picking captains but figureheads from a defensive point of view. The team will only be as good as these three guys defend. Van Dijk obviously won the league, and signed a new Liverpool deal. In my opinion, he’s the best centre-back in world football. Konsa is growing week on week, month on month, to be an exceptional centre-back. He’s on his way to being England’s centre-back that we can rely on. Saliba has had a little end to the season that has made me question him – but when he and Gabriel are playing, it works well. He needs an aggressive partner so he can be the Rolls Royce. Honourable mentions for Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo at Forest.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool): The easiest one to pick. Across the Premier League this season, there hasn’t been any solid right-back who’s been consistent and injury free. An honourable mention for Aaron Wan-Bissaka at West Ham – but Liverpool won the league, and Alexander-Arnold gets the nod.
Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth): I was going to go with Myles Lewis-Skelly but he didn’t start the season. He was superb over the second half of the season, though. Kerkez has been one of Bournemouth’s unbelievable performers and one of the reasons they’ve moved so high up the league.
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