WHY STERLING SHOULD BE NAMED YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR

While the PFA Young Player of the Year award is somewhat of a little brother to the main prize, it remains one of the most sought-after honours in English football. Some of the greatest players ever to grace the Premier League have picked up this award, including Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Paul Gascoigne, Matt Le Tissier, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen.

A drop of the shoulder, a quick shimmy to the right, and a stroke of the right foot, Raheem Sterling’s stock was at an all-time high. Running on to Luis Suarez’s smart through-ball against Manchester City, the 19-year-old showed incredible composure and intelligence for such a young player on such a big afternoon.

Sterling had to wait until October 5 and a home clash against Crystal Palace for Brendan Rodgers to trust him from the start, and even then he was played as a right wing-back with considerable defensive duties against the league’s bottom club. It is this versatility which is so impressive about Sterling. Over the course of the season the teenager has been deployed in six different roles for Liverpool - ranging from his stint at wing-back to all across Rodgers’ front three and, most recently against City, in the No.10 role. He is pivotal to his manager’s flexible 4-3-3 diamond setup.

Sterling has played the second-lowest number of league minutes out of the six nominees, boasting 1960, with Ramsey’s 1627 only restricted due to his four-month injury-induced absence. So while the Liverpool man’s overall stats are lacking in comparison, his per-minute averages stand out. His contribution to this Liverpool side cannot be understated. He creates a chance every 45.6 minutes - which is only bettered by Eden Hazard’s remarkable record of one every 31.7 minutes. The 19-year-old is again only trumped by the Belgian for completed dribbles: one per 25.2 minutes to Hazard’s one every 22.6.

Sterling’s also stacks up impressively for completed crosses - his 16.39% success rate is only marginally bettered by Luke Shaw’s 17.65. And even though he is the smallest and slightest of a group which also includes Southampton left-back Shaw, Sterling averages a successful defensive 50-50 challenge every 10.7 minutes and an attempted duel every 5.2 minutes. He is always involved. Following Sunday’s man-of-the-match performance against Norwich City, in which Sterling scored twice and assisted the third in a 3-2 win as Liverpool crucially took advantage of Chelsea’s loss to Sunderland to move five points clear at the top of the table, Rodgers hailed the 19-year-old as the "best young player in Europe".

According to EA player ratings, three of Sterling’s four best performances his season have come against City, Arsenal and Tottenham, with the fourth coming against Norwich. He has flourished and transformed into a player who can perform on the big stage in such a short amount of time. In his most recent performances, against City and Norwich, he put his team into the lead after six minutes and four minutes respectively, made a clearance off the line, recorded 46 touches and completed 21 passes against the former, and touched the ball 69 times and boasted a passing accuracy of 79 per cent against the Canaries.

Where Sterling stands out from the other nominees is the extent of his improvement from the start of the season to now - and at the most crucial period. At 19 years old, the forward is playing a key role in bringing the title to a club which boasts a wealth of illustrious past successes, but is yet to claim a Premier League championship. And it is likely to be just the beginning.