Manchester City star Erling Haaland has been named the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year 2022-23 on Friday, 12 May. His first season in the English Premier League. He became only the third Manchester City player to win the award after Raheem Sterling (2019) and Ruben Dias (2021).
The 22-year-old forward recorded 82% of the votes and won the award with a record margin of votes. Arsenal’s young forward Bukayo Saka finished second and attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard was third. Haaland’s Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne moved ahead of Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford in fourth place to make the top five charts.
Haaland joined Manchester City in May 2022 and is enjoying a sensational season, breaking big records every gameweek. He broke Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record for most goals in a season with 34 goals when he scored his 35th goal of the season on 4 May in a game against West Ham. Haaland thanked his teammates and head coach Pep Guardiola for helping him to victory. The biggest individual award in English football.
“It is an honor to win the Football Writers Award in my first season in English football. I try to do my best every day, and to be recognized like this means a lot to me. I have really enjoyed my time here. So far at City – my team-mates have been incredible, and they give me chances to score goals. I want to thank them all, because I couldn’t have won this award without them.
“I also owe a lot to Pep [Guardiola] And the team behind the team here at Citi. Everyone has been great to me since I joined and I have never worked with such top professionals. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It is a real honor to win this award. I’m now focused on making sure I can finish the season as strongly as possible and help City win trophies,” Haaland told the Manchester City website.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s star forward Sam Kerr beat Aston Villa’s Rachael Daly to win the Women’s FWA Footballer of the Year award for the second consecutive season.