Haaland beats De Bruyne, Saka to win Premier League Player of the Season

Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland, has been named the 2022/23 Premier League Player of the Season.

This was announced by the Premier League via a statement shared on its website on Saturday, May 27.

It stated: “Erling Haaland has capped a record-breaking campaign by winning the 2022/23 EA SPORTS Player of the Season.

“He wins the award after the public vote was combined with those of the 20 club captains and a panel of football experts.”

Haaland has been critical to City’s fifth title in six years, scoring 36 goals, breaking the previous record of 34 for a single Premier League season set by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer in 42-match Premier League campaigns.

Only Dixie Dean, for Everton in 1927/28, has scored more goals across all competitions (63) in a top-flight English season than Haaland’s 52.

The Norwegian is also the first player in the Premier League to score hat-tricks in three successive home matches, and the first City player to score a Manchester derby hat-trick since 1970.

Haaland becomes the third successive Man City player, and fourth overall, to claim the accolade, after Kevin De Bruyne in 2019/20 and 2021/22, while Ruben Dias took the honour in 2020/21.

Vincent Kompany was the first, in 2011/12.

Haaland beat seven other nominees, including De Bruyne, Harry Kane, Martin Odegaard, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Kieran Trippier to win the award.

The 22-year-old striker was recently named the Football Writers’ Association Men’s Footballer of the Year for the 2022/23 season.

Haaland received 82 per cent of the FWA vote, ahead of Saka and Odegaard, to win the award.

The Star