David Raya, William Saliba, Gabriel, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard have all been selected for the 2023/24 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
The five Gunners were included in the annual XI, which was selected by their peers’ votes based on their superb performances during the past 12 months as we finished the season with 89 points and 28 victories.
This is the second year in a row that William and Martin have featured in the PFA side, with David, Gabriel and Declan all making their debuts. Only the 2003/04 team, which included six Gunners following our Invincibles campaign, has had more Arsenal representation.
Raya enjoyed a standout debut season at the Emirates Stadium, keeping 16 clean sheets to pick up the Golden Glove award. The Spaniard made a host of superb saves and his distribution turned defence into attack at lightning speed.
William Saliba and Gabriel continued their rock-solid centre-back pairing which formed in the 2022/23 campaign. The Frenchman was one of just two outfield players in the Premier League to play every single minute in 2023/24, popping up with two goals to boot. Brazilian Gabriel was once again in commanding form and was part of a defensive line that conceded just 29 Premier League goals, the lowest of any side in the division.
Declan Rice could not have had a better season in the middle of the park. Our No. 41 was a rock after joining from West Ham United, playing in all 38 league matches and scoring memorable goals against Manchester United and Luton Town.
The England international also added assists to his game, setting up nine goals across the season including five directly from set-pieces to help us to back-to-back second-place finishes.
Our captain rounds off our inclusion after another sensational campaign. Named as our club Player of the Season, Odegaard created 10 assists in the league and netted eight goals in the process. No player in the whole league created more chances than our skipper (88) and that form also saw him nominated for the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.
Champions Manchester City had four inclusions including Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Rodri and Kyle Walker. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk makes his fourth appearance in the XI with Ollie Watkins rounding off the selection after his 19 goals and 13 assists helped Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League.
23/24 PFA Premier League Team of the Year
David Raya (Arsenal), Kyle Walker (Man City), William Saliba (Arsenal), Gabriel (Arsenal), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Rodri (Man City), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Man City), Erling Haaland (Man City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
