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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland has been named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) men’s Player of the Year, following record breaking performances in his first season in the Premier League.
Haaland won by a large margin after a blistering season with 51 goals to his name and still chasing a treble in the Champions League, Premier League and the FA Cup.
The Norwegian striker left second-placed Bukayo Saka in the dust at the polls after securing over 82% of the votes, the biggest berth in the EPL.
In third place was Saka’s Arsenal colleague Martin Odegaard while Kevin De Bruyne of City was fourth and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford was fifth.
An excited Haaland on Manchester City’s website said to win the Football Writers’ Association award in his first season in English football is an honour.
“I try every single day to be the best I can be and to be recognised like this means a lot to me.
“I have loved my time at City so far – my teammates are incredible, and they provide me with the chances to score goals. I want to thank all of them because I could not have won this award without them.
“I also owe so much to Pep and the team behind the team here at City. Everybody has been so good to me since I joined and I have never worked with such top professionals.
“Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It’s a real honour to have won this award. I am now focused on ensuring I finish the season as strongly as possible and helping City win trophies,” he said.
Also Australia striker, Sam Kerr has won the FWA women’s Palyer of the Year award.
She is the first player to win the women’s Footballer of the Year award in successive years.
She has scored 26 goals in 34 club appearances this season, including 10 in the Women’s Super League.
The 29-year-old polled twice as many votes as second-placed Rachel Daly of Aston Villa, who is the WSL’s top scorer with 20 goals.
Kerr’s Chelsea team-mate Lauren James was third.