ERLING Haaland has been voted the the Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association in England.
The Manchester City striker beat Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard to second and third places, with his teammate Kevin De Bruyne fourth in the voting.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is fifth, with 14 other players also receiving votes.
Norway striker Haaland has scored 35 Premier League goals this season, an all-time record in the competition, as champions City chase a third consecutive title and a first-ever treble.
Australia and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has won the women’s version of the award for the second year running.
“Congratulations to Erling Haaland and Sam Kerr for becoming our Footballer of the Year and Women’s Footballer of the Year,” the FWA announced on their official website today.
“Haaland won by a huge margin after his sensational debut season in England, scoring 51 goals so far for Manchester City as they aim for a remarkable treble.
“For a while he was neck and neck with Bukayo Saka in the voting among our 800 or so members, but eventually won by a landslide, polling 82 per cent of the votes, the biggest margin since the Premier League began.
“Chelsea striker Kerr becomes the first back-to-back winner of the Women’s Footballer of the Year.
“The Australian polled twice as many votes as Rachel Daly of Aston Villa and England, who edged out Chelsea’s Lauren James (four votes). In total 25 different players got votes in the WFOTY poll.”
Haaland and Kerr will be presented with their awards on May 25 in London at a dinner marking the 75th anniversary of the award.
