Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has been awarded the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year for the second time after an outstanding season for the Reds. On Thursday, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr won the women’s prize!
Notably, Salah is just the seventh player in English football history to win the PFA award more than time.
Salah was unable to help Liverpool to a second Premier League title in three years, but played a key role in their run to the Champions League final as well as their successes in the domestic cup competitions.
The Egyptian forward scored 31 goals in all competitions during Liverpool’s successful season in which they won the FA Cup and the League Cup and finished runners-up in the Premier League and the Champions League.
Mohamed Salah led the Premier League with 23 goals, equal with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min.
Surprisingly, the South Korean was left out of the PFA’s team of the year, which contained six players from Liverpool.
Notably, Kevin De Bruyne, who starred during Manchester City’s Premier League-winning season, was vying for the honour for the third year in a row.
The Belgian international was also named to the six-man shortlist, which included Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Tottenham’s Harry Kane, and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane.
“It’s a great honour to win a trophy, individual or collective and this one is big so, very happy and very proud of that,” Salah said of his win.
“This one is a really good one to win, especially because it’s voted by players. It shows you that you’ve worked really hard and you get what you worked for. I have my room with trophies in a cabinet and I made sure that I had another space for one more. I always keep space and just try to imagine that the trophies are going to come.
“When you get older, you feel like you’re more stable and you know exactly what you want from football so I’m just trying to really chill and help the team. That’s why I think I also won the playmaker because it’s like you’re more aware of the game, so you just try to make the people next to you better and try to make yourself better as well.”
Sam Kerr takes women’s award!
Kerr of Chelsea became the first Australian player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award after leading the Women’s Super League in goal scoring.
“It’s a massive honour I think, whenever you’re voted by your peers. I think that’s the highest honour as a player so, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Kerr.
Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Lauren Hemp maintained their Young Player of the Year medals, while former England coach Roy Hodgson and Brighton & Hove Albion Women’s manager Hope Powell were recognised for their contributions to the game.
