Gylfi’s got a great case for top award, insists Clement

SWANSEA City boss Paul Clement believes Gylfi Sigurdsson deserves to be in the mix for Premier League Player of the Year and Team of the Year honours, but fears the Iceland international will be overlooked.

Sigurdsson has had another excellent campaign at the Liberty Stadium, showcasing his goalscoring and goal-making abilities to great effect in the Welsh club’s battle against the drop.

His tally of eight goals and 11 assists have played a key part in helping the Swans climb out of the bottom three under Clement, and they remain three points clear of the drop zone going into this weekend’s clash with Middlesbrough. The 27-year-old leads the way in the top-flight for assists and for distance covered, while he has been directly involved in 19 of Swansea’s 36 Premier League strikes this season, a figure of 53 per cent which is also a Premier League high.

He is also among the division leaders in crosses attempted, cross accuracy, shot accuracy, while he is among the top 20 players for goals scored this season even though he is rarely used as an out and out striker.

His uniformly high statistics put him on a par with, if not better off than, several players with clubs battling it out at the top of the table, including the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Christian Eriksen. But Clement feels Swansea’s low league position may mean he is off the radar.

“I think he is more than good enough to be in that discussion, he probably gets overlooked because of the position of the team,” said Clement of the man who has been linked with Everton, West Ham and Newcastle.

“When teams are lower down in the table, the individual players don’t always get that recognition they deserve, but he is a player that’s done really, really well.

“It’s no surprise. He has ability but my word, does that player work too!”