Belgian football player Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) is this year's Premier League Player of the Year, English football’s top division announced on Sunday.
The Belgian international was one of seven players shortlisted for the honour, alongside Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Danny Ings (Southampton), Nick Pope (Burnley) and Jamie Vardy (Leicester), who had already received the title in 2016.
This is De Bruyne’s first Premier League Player of the Year award. Two other Belgians have won the prestigious title since its creation in 1995: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) in 2012 and Eden Hazard (Chelsea) in 2015.
De Bruyne, who succeeds Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) as the holder of the title, had a fantastic season in the Premier League, equalling Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists, set in the 2002-2003 season. He also scored 13 goals.
Manchester City ended the season as runner-up to Liverpool. On Saturday, it was knocked out of the UEFA Champion’s League by Lyon in the quarterfinals.
Kevin De Bruyne had already been elected Player of the Year by readers on the BBC site while the British Football Writers’ Association Award went to Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
The Brussels Times
