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20 years of the Premier League - who is the greatest player?

 

Simon Rice,Charles Reynolds
Tuesday 17 April 2012 11:50 BST
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It has been 20 years since the launch of the Premier League and to celebrate the milestone the 20 Seasons Awards have been created.

Spanning the two decades of England's top division, the Premier League is calling on fans to select the Best Goal, Best Match, Best Save and Best Celebration, while a selected panel of football figures and journalists will pick the Best Player, Best Manager, Best Team, Best Season and Most Memorable Quote.

The most keenly contested award will be for the Best Player. The nominees are Dennis Bergkamp, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Thierry Henry, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Alan Shearer, Patrick Vieira and Gianfranco Zola.

Click here for a full run-down of the Best Player nominees.

With just 10 nominees for the award, there are some notable absentees. Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and former Red Devil David Beckham fail to make the cut. As do Chelsea duo Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, who is the only midfielder to score 150 goals in the Premier League. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is also omitted.

Frenchman Cantona finds himself nominated more than any other player in a total of five categories. Alongside Best Player, the four time title winner has been nominated for Best Goal, Most Memorable Quote, Best Goal Celebration and Best Striker in the fantasy team category.

Former Blackburn and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer in nominated in four categories, while former Arsenal strikers Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry have three each.

Matt Le Tissier is the only player with two nominations in the 'Best Goal' category.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is surely the favourite in the Best Manager category, with the Scot nominated alongside Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp and David Moyes.

A full list of all the nominees can be found at the official Premier League website at www.premierleague.com

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