NEW DELHI: Manchester City's Erling Haaland was on Saturday named the Premier League's Player of the Season following an extraordinary inaugural campaign where he delivered 36 goals in 35 games, propelling the Pep Guardiola side to their third consecutive title.
Aged 22, Haaland achieved a remarkable feat by scoring an astounding 36 goals, surpassing the long-standing record of 34 goals in a single Premier League season, previously held jointly by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer for nearly three decades.
The Norwegian prodigy earned the coveted Player of the Season accolade through a combined voting process involving the general public, the captains of all 20 Premier League clubs, and a panel comprising esteemed soccer experts.
City players have now won the award for four seasons running, with Kevin De Bruyne taking the honour in 2019-20 and 2021-22 and Ruben Dias in 2020-21.
Haaland saw off competition from De Bruyne, Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier.
He was also named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year after claiming a record 82% of the votes.
Haaland will have the chance to add to his Premier League tally on Sunday when City visit Brentford for their final game of the season.
(With inputs from Reuters)
