Is Raheem Sterling really deserving of the ‘Young’ Player of the Year award?

Michael Owen was 18 years old when he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1998. The striker had announced himself to the Premier League when he scored on his Liverpool debut at the end of the season before, but in his first full season he was phenomenal: a tiny, teenage sensation sweeping past defenders at astonishing speed and scoring 18 goals, making him the league’s joint-top scorer that year. It came, also, on the back of a summer when the late Ted Powell, the former England Under-18s manager, described Owen as England’s most exciting youngster, in a pool with David Beckham and Paul Scholes.

Powell watched Owen shine in a group of England’s most gifted young players at Lilleshall, the Football Association’s old school of excellence, during a challenge to receive the ball 30 yards out and try to score within four seconds, later saying: “It was probably the finest demonstration of finishing I’ve ever seen and it just reaffirmed my belief that if his progress continues he may become one of football’s greatest strikers.”

In 2011, Jack Wilshere was 19 years old when he won PFA Young Player of the Year. He had spent two seasons picking up League Cup games and gaining experience from the bench, becoming only the fifth 16-year-old to play in the Champions League, going out on a short loan to Bolton Wanderers. But then came his breakout year: the England debut, declared by Fabio Capello as “the future” of the nation’s central midfield, 49 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, particularly impressing physically in a contest against Michael Essien.

Then there was Dele Alli, who had only just turned 20 when he was voted by his peers as English football’s best young player, three years ago. He had made his Premier League debut the previous August and produced an astonishing campaign: 10 goals and nine assists, playing in all but two of Tottenham’s games, an England debut.

What is ‘young’?

Here’s the thing: Alli can win it next year, too, should he stay clear of injury and fully regain form. So he could be bearing down on Euro 2020, with near-on 50 caps to his name, and still be considered as the best young player in English football. Is Alli really “young” still? He may be in years – he turned 23 three weeks ago – but in football experience he is becoming an old hand.

And so we saw on Sunday night, at the PFA’s star-studded awards evening, that Sterling won it, at 24 years old. He was close to beating Virgil van Dijk to the main award, and it almost felt odd giving him the young player trophy. Slightly patronising. A pat on the head: well done, boy.

Age is relative, obviously – if you are 30 or 40 or 50 or 60, then 24 seems young. But if you’re 24, it seems fairly old. Certainly a point in your life when you don’t really want to be considered in the “young” category (I can just about recall this time, almost a decade ago). And being labelled “young” comes with its connotations: lacking maturity, still plenty to prove, full of potential.

What does Sterling still have to prove? He has plenty to win – yes – but he is already one of the world’s best players in one of the world’s best teams, and a veteran of seven full seasons in the Premier League.

Sterling didn’t turn up to collect his award. He had recorded a video. He lightly mocked the award announcement on social media, although then posted a more serious message of gratitude. Had he won the main award, you can be almost certain he would’ve made it to the do at London’s Grosvenor Hotel from Burnley, where City had won, probably via helicopter.

Time to re-draw the line?

He had been joined on the shortlist by team-mate Bernardo Silva. By my calculations, Silva turned 24 on the day the season kicked off in the Friday night opener between Manchester United and Leicester City, on 10 August (that feels like a long, long time ago). Silva is the winner of three league titles in three countries, and many more cups. He has been there and done that. Is he really classed as “young”?

A top limit of 21 years old would surely be fairer. There were plenty of worthy winners aged 21 or under, on the shortlist and beyond. Declan Rice has only just turned 20 in what you’d call a breakout year: England debut, stonking performances in the centre of West Ham’s midfield, deserving of a move to a higher level. Trent Alexander-Arnold, 20, the sensational Liverpool and England defender. David Brooks, 21, Bournemouth midfielder. Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, 21.

Had Sterling and Silva been deemed too old, then it would have also made room for Leicester City’s James Maddison, 22, and Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff, 21.

Perhaps a tweak will ensure the PFA Young Player of the Year award goes to a young player.