Per Mertesacker

Vastly-experienced club captain Per endured a largely-frustrating season in 2016/17, but he finished it in the best possible way, lifting the Emirates FA Cup after producing a masterful showing against Chelsea at Wembley.

The former German international - who made more than 100 appearances for his nation and won the World Cup in 2014 - missed almost the entirety of the campaign due to a knee injury sustained in our first game of pre-season, against Lens in July 2016.

He returned to make his 150th Premier League appearance for us on the final day of the season, replacing Gabriel in the second half of a 3-1 win over Everton.

Six days later, he played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup final - his first competitive start in 13 months - and marked it with a defensive display so commanding it saw him deservedly voted as our man of the match.

Per began his career at Hannover 96 and joined us from Werder Bremen in 2011, with whom he won the German Cup alongside Mesut Ozil in 2009. Upon arriving in north London, he quickly established himself as a key component of our backline, his leadership and expert reading of the game two of his main strengths.

Popular both with team-mates and fans, the 6ft 6in centre half is one of only four players (along with Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud) to have featured in the final of our last three victorious FA Cup finals.