Kevin De Bruyne insists he 'deserves' to win PFA Player of the Year over Liverpool's Mohamed Salah

Will his fellow professionals agree though?

De Bruyne is still the favourite to pick up the award (Getty)

Kevin De Bruyne believes he “deserves” to be named PFA Player of the Year ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah after his work in leading Manchester City to an all-but-certain Premier League crown.

The Belgian’s playmaking abilities have proved mesmeric as City have charged towards their third league title of the decade and has contributed far more than the basic statistics of seven league goals and 15 assists.

However, such has been the relentless goalscoring of Salah, who on Saturday bagged his 29^th of the Premier League season and his 37^th in all competitions, that he could usurp De Bruyne for the top prize.

The two players will do battle in the Champions League this week but De Bruyne insists that he is the only one who “deserves” the accolade.

“In one way I believe I deserve it, because I have been very consistent in my form,” he said. “I am very happy with myself, I am very pleased with how I have played. I didn’t expect to be this good this season.

“If I get it, it would be nice for the team and for me. I think there is almost no game where my standard has dropped, so I have been constant, and I am happy with myself.

“To maintain the level the amount of games I have played, the amount of minutes, I am pleased with that.

“Salah has a remarkable goalscoring run, and he plays very well like an inside forward type of role. This season he has been incredible.”