Erling Haaland Wins The 2023 Footballer Of The Year Award

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been voted the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year for the 2022-23 season.

The Norwegian striker won the annual poll in a landslide, claiming 82% of the more than 800 votes cast, which is the biggest margin of victory during the 30 years of the Premier League.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka finished as runners-up behind Haaland, while his Arsenal team-mate Martin Odegaard was third, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne was fourth, and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford came fifth.

“He has had an outstanding season, and it is very well deserved,” said John Cross, the chairman of the Football Writers’ Association. “He will take his place amongst the greats as a resounding winner. He has been streets ahead of everyone. The amount of goals he has scored has taken his game to a whole new level and blown everyone away.”

After arriving from Borussia Dortmund last summer for a transfer fee of £51.2 million Haaland has dominated the Premier League and broken a string of records.

He has so far scored a total of 51 goals from 47 games in all competitions as Manchester City attempt to become the second English club to win the Treble.

They are currently top of the Premier League, in the Champions League semi-finals where they face Real Madrid in the tie’s second leg next week after drawing the first leg 1-1 this week, and will face Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on June 3.

Haaland has scored the most ever goals in a season by a Manchester City player, overtaking Tommy Johnson’s 38 goals in the 1928-29 season. He has also surpassed Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah, who had each scored 44 goals, as the player with the most goals in all competitions during a season in the Premier League era.

Earlier this month he also overtook Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s joint record of the most Premier League goals in a single season. The pair had both scored 34 goals, while Haaland now stands on 35 with four games remaining.

Chelsea’s Australian international Sam Kerr was voted the Women’s Footballer of the Year, ahead of runners-up Rachel Daly from Aston Villa, and Chelsea’s Lauren James in third.

Haaland and Kerr will be presented with their awards at the Footballer of the Year dinner at the Landmark Hotel in London on May 25, which will also mark the 75^th anniversary of the award first won by Sir Stanley Matthews in 1948.

It remains the most prestigious individual award in English football and has previously been won by Sir Bobby Charlton in 1966, George Best in 1968, Eric Cantona in 1996, Thierry Henry in 2002, 2003 and 2006 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007 and 2008.