Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association.
Haaland has had a masterful season with his goal tally in all competitions currently at 51, and he won 72 per cent of the FWA vote, the biggest margin of victory since the Premier League began.
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka finished second, with his Gunners teammate Martin Odegaard third.
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne finished fourth, with Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford fifth. A total of 19 players received votes.
The 22-year-old wins the FWA award for the first time since 1948, becoming the first City player to win it since centre-back Ruben Dias in 2020-21.
Erling Haaland has been voted Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year 2022-23
In his debut season in English football, Haaland (right) scored 51 goals in all competitions
The Norwegian striker broke the Premier League single-season record with 35 goals
Chelsea striker Sam Kerr becomes the first back-to-back winner of the Women’s Footballer of the Year award after another impressive campaign.
The Australian won twice as many votes as England and Aston Villa star Rachel Daly, with Chelsea’s Lauren James third overall. A total of 25 different players received votes in the WFOTY poll.
Both players will receive their awards on Thursday 25th May at the Landmark Hotel London at a special Footballer of the Year dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of the award, first won by Sir Stanley Matthews in 1948.
Haaland has had a remarkable campaign in which he broke the Premier League’s single-season goalscoring record in a home game against West Ham.
Oliver Holt, Mail Sport’s chief sportswriter, explained this week why the ‘privilege’ of watching Haaland saw him voted to crown the City star Footballer of the Year – and fellow reporters felt the same way.
“It’s an honor to win the Football Writers’ Award in my first season in English football,” said Haaland.
“I try to be the best I can be every day, and to be recognized in this way means a lot to me.
“I’ve enjoyed my time at City so far – my teammates are incredible and they give me opportunities to score goals.
‘I want to thank them all, because without them I couldn’t have won this prize.’
He added: “I also owe so much to Pep and the team behind the team here at City.
“Everyone has been so good to me since I’ve been here and I’ve never worked with such top professionals.
Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It is an honor to have won this award.
“I’m now focused on making sure I finish the season as strong as possible and helping City win trophies.”
With four games remaining in City’s pursuit of another Premier League title, more records could fall at Haaland’s feet.
The Norwegian already has four Premier League hat-tricks to his name since moving to the Etihad for £51 million last summer.
He has managed to score three times this season in games against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Wolves, coming close to setting a season-record five hat-tricks in the league.
That is a record set by Alan Shearer in the 1995-1996 campaign.
The Manchester City players gave Haaland a guard of honor after he broke the league record
“It’s unbelievable how many goals he has scored, so many important goals that help us win games,” boss Pep Guardiola recently said of his star player.
‘He is a unique person, as a player, but also as a person who is special.
“He deserved the guard of honor [after breaking the single-season league scoring record].
“It’s an incredible milestone. Maybe one day he will break his record or someone else will, but they will have to score a lot of goals.’