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Gary Neville picks ‘electric’ Arsenal forwards in team of year - but not Harry Kane

Gary Neville picks ‘electric’ Arsenal forwards in team of year - but not Harry Kane

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both made it into Gary Neville’s Premier League team of the year - as Harry Kane missed out.

The Sky Sports pundit opted to leave Kane out having picked Erling Haaland as his top striker, pitting the Arsenal duo up against the likes of Marcus Rashford and Mohamed Salah to complete his team.

Despite the Gunners’ failure to convert their lead into title glory, Neville was left in awe of how Saka and Martinelli performed for the vast majority of the campaign.

“Saka and Martinelli - up until the last few weeks - have absolutely lit up this league,” he told Monday Night Football.

“I think they’ve been spectacular, they’ve been electric, some of the best play I’ve seen all season has come from those two with Gabriel Jesus up front and Martin Odegaard in behind.

“I’ve not liked what I’ve seen from Arsenal in the last four-five weeks, it’s been really, really poor. Let’s be clear.

“Those two players have suffered, as I thought they would, by not having the right experienced players around them. But for 30 games they were magical.

“They were at a different level, I believe, than for instance Rashford or Salah. Kane’s a striker, he’s a different position. Rashford and Salah have great numbers but [Saka and Martinelli] have been spectacular and electric.

“They’ve lit my season up. The way they’ve dove-tailed has been something I’ll remember as a real high from this season.”

Arsenal players William Saliba and Martin Odegaard also made it into Neville’s team, alongside Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Ruben Dias, Pervis Estupinan, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne.