Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, has been awarded the prestigious Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year award. The 22-year-old secured the prize with an overwhelming 82% of the vote, setting a new record for the award. The runner-ups for the award were Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard from Arsenal, who came in second and third place, respectively. Haaland's exceptional performance during his debut season in England earned him this recognition.
Women's Footballer of the Year
Meanwhile, in the Women's Footballer of the Year category, Chelsea striker Sam Kerr made history by becoming the first player to win the award for two consecutive years. The Australian international gained twice the number of votes as Rachel Daly from Aston Villa, who finished in second place, while Kerr's teammate Lauren James secured the third spot. Both Kerr and Haaland have played a pivotal role in their teams' quest to retain their respective league titles.
Honour to win in first season
"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."
Smashing records for fun
The Premier League champions, Manchester City, have been delighted with Erling Haaland's exceptional debut season, with the striker having scored an impressive 51 goals in all competitions so far.
The Norwegian footballer broke the Premier League's single-season scoring record, scoring his 35th goal in a 3-0 victory over West Ham United. Since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund last summer, Haaland has been shattering records on a near-weekly basis at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland has already surpassed the previous record for most goals scored in all competitions by a Premier League player, which was held by Ruud van Nistelrooy (44 goals) for Manchester United in 2002-03 and Mohamed Salah (44 goals) in 2017-18.
However, he still has a long way to go to break the all-time record for the most goals scored in England's top division, which was set by Dixie Dean, who scored 60 goals for Everton in 1927-28.
The FWA has confirmed that Haaland and Kerr will both receive their awards on May 25. Despite being new to the Premier League, Haaland has already made an enormous impact with his goalscoring prowess and is well-deserving of his Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award.
