The best player in PL this season has been CANCELO, say stats boffins

Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has been the best player in the Premier League this season, according to expert statistics.

The Portuguese defender has become an integral part of Pep Guardiola's side who are eyeing up a throughly-impressive treble with the Premier League and Champions League after lifting the Carabao Cup last month.

In fact, the £60million signing has outperformed his team-mate Kevin de Bruyne and Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes to be crowned the best player this campaign.

According to Instat, Cancelo has outranked every other player in the English topflight with his performances.

The metric used to define the rankings measure 'the technical gestures achieved by players, their playing time, as well as the level of the competitions in which matches were played'.

The former Juventus right-back has made 25 league appearances for the Citizens this season, scoring once and registering three assists.

The 26-year-old has contributed just as much to City's attacking prowess as he has their defensive stability; with a pass success rate of 81.8% and averaging two shots per game in the 2020/21 season.

Premier League champions elect City have actually dominated the rankings with Cancelo's team-mates Rodri, de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez occupying the top four places.

West Ham's January arrival Jesse Lingard has ranked fifth in the system after re-igniting his fire during his short-term loan move from Manchester United.

City's Ilkay Gundogan, Aston Villa forward Jack Grealish, John Stones, Joel Matip and Kurt Zouma make up the top ten on the InStat Performance Index.

However, the statistics have thrown up a few surprises with players such as Tottenham striker Harry Kane missing out on the top scores.

In fact, Kane - who has 21 goals and 13 assists - has ranked lower than Man City's Raheem Sterling, who has nine goals and six assists.

Sterling, who has found himself a little more out of favour this season under Guardiola due to rotation, has also scored higher than Bruno Fernandes, with 16 goals and 11 assists, and his team-mate Phil Foden.

Fernandes only ranked 15th despite being the best player for United, who look destined to finish second this term.

There are some other shocks on the cards, as City defender Nathan Ake has been as influential as Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland.

Cancelo was only outscored by three players across the rest of the elite leagues in Europe. Unsurprisingly, Barcelona's Lionel Messi got the top score, followed by PSG's Neymar in second and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.