The Player of The Year awarded by professional English soccer players (PFA) is the most recognized award in the country… but it usually brings big surprises
In 2005, John Terry outdid either Drogba or Lampard. In 2011 Balen took him against all odds as soon as he arrived at Tottenham. Kanté surprised in 2017
The most recognized individual award in the Premier League is the Player of The Year awarded each season end by the Professional Footballers Association of English Soccer (PFA). It is the most prestigious award and it seems that this year it has a very clear recipient: Erling Haaland. No one would argue. But history says the opposite in an award that usually gives striking surprises. In this case, the threat to Haaland is also from Norway. Betfair forecasts point to Martin Odegaard as a rival, although City’s harassment of Arsenal could lead to a definitive assault on the title and end the options of the gunner star to snatch the award from his compatriot.
Erling Haaland is destroying the competition with goals and he is doing it in the best league in the world. Currently, he has 32 goals for Manchester City – more than 35 teams in Europe’s top leagues – and he still has seven games to go in which he can increase this number. And speaking of smashing, he has his eyes on a record held by legends Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, holders of the record for most goals in a Premier League season with 34. There are only two goals left for Erling Haaland to tie this mark and with the excellent goalscoring pace he is taking, it will be a matter of time before he puts his name in the record books.
According to Betfair forecasts, Haaland winning the PFA prize is paid at €1.11 per euro bet and is the great favourite. He could only disturb his Odegaard trophy which is trading at €9.5 per euro wagered. In the Premier League, the award has traditionally been an accolade fraught with surprises and who knows if this season could be one of those seasons where players vote against Haaland?.
Terry, Bale, Kante… recent surprises
In 2005, one of the biggest surprises of this award took place, which then ended up in the hands of John Terry. It is rare for a central defender to win this type of trophies. In fact since then no defender has been chosen. The award was directed towards Chelsea’s great season that won the Premier with just 15 goals conceded in 38 games. A record that he had in Terry as a key figure and ahead of stars like Frank Lampard or Didier Drogba. Rooney was named best young player of that season.
Winning the Premier League does not ensure the PFA title either. In 2011, a young Gareth Bale was sweeping the regularity tournament, he managed to attract the attention of half the world with his internships on the wing. Such was the case that a Tottenham that finished fifth in the standings was no obstacle for the Welshman to gather more votes than anyone else from his teammates.. Manchester United won the title, but neither Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov or Scholes managed to wrest the trophy from Bale.
In 2017, N’Golo Kanté won the award and he is one of the few defensive midfielders who has managed to win it, it was also a surprise. Chelsea won the league with a stellar Eden Hazard alongside Diego Costa, but neither attacking player convinced his teammates to award him the PFA Player of the Year.
Salah passed over the City
Last season, when many expected the award to a City player for winning the Premier, the trophy went to Mohamed Salah. One more year, the Association of Professional Footballers in Great Britain announced the best players of this season. A campaign that once again dressed Manchester City as champion, but it was not enough for a citizen player to be recognized as the best of the year.
The Liverpool forward already achieved it in the 2017-18 season and did it again after scoring 23 goals in the Premier, where he was the top scorer together with Tottenham winger Heug-min Son. A small consolation for the Egyptian player, who lost the league championship at the last breath. It was precisely after that last vibrant day of the Premier, on Media Day before the Champions League final, when the player received the award, a tradition at the end of the season. But Salah kept it a secret for two weeks, until the PFA gala held shortly after.. Will there be a surprise with Haaland? Odegaard licks his lips in the distance.