Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has won the prestigious Football Writers’ Association ( FWA) Footballer of the Year Award.
This was announced on Friday morning by the Association, with the Norwegian strikers wining by a record margin.
Haaland earned 72% of the votes to win the prize ahead of Arsenal players Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard who finished second and third respectively.
“To win the Football Writers’ Award in my first season in English football is an honour,” Haaland said in a statement. “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 [Guardiola] 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.”
Haaland has been impressive for the Premier League leaders this season, scoring 51 goals in all competitions so far.
He also recently broke the Premier League scoring record in a single season with his 35th goal coming against West Ham last week.
Haaland becomes the third City player to win this coveted prize after Ruben Dias (2021) and former City star Raheem Sterling, who took the award in 2019.
The Norwegian international also becomes only the fourth player to receive the FWA award in their first season playing in England, following Dias (2021), Gianfranco Zola (1997) and Jurgen Klinsmann (1995).
Elsewhere, Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has won the Women’s Footballer of the Year. The Australia international becomes the first back-to-back winner of this prestigious award.
To win the award, she beat off Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly and Chelsea’s teammate Lauren James by a huge mile.
