Erling Haaland of Manchester City wins the men’s PFA Player of the Year award, while Bukayo Saka wins the young men’s POTY

Erling Haaland, a striker for Manchester City, won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award on Tuesday after his outstanding first year with the triple champions.

The female award went to England and Aston Villa star Rachel Daly, who was chosen by her fellow competitors.

The Professional Footballers’ Association is the organization behind the awards, which honor the top male and female players in English football in 2023.

Haaland had a sensational first year at City, scoring 52 goals across all competitions as Pep Guardiola’s team won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League titles.

The Norwegian’s influence on the team hasn’t yet diminished, as the teenager has begun this current Premier League season for Manchester City strong once again, scoring three goals in as many outings. The burden Haaland must bear has never been greater as the club will look on him to maintain his excellent form throughout the season with Kevin De Bruyne out injured.

The 23-year-old defeated opposition from teammates John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as from Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard and former Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who is now playing for Bayern Munich.

“Winning this distinguished prize is an honor. It’s a wonderful feeling to be acknowledged by your rivals, and I want to thank everyone who voted for me,” Haaland remarked.

“Both for the club and for me personally, it was an incredible season. I never thought I’d win the triple, so it was incredible to do it with such an exceptional bunch of players.

“Last season, we made some fantastic memories, and this year, we want to repeat that. We need to keep going since the season has started off positively for us.

Young Player of the Year for men went to Saka, while for women it went to Chelsea’s Lauren James.

Daly and James were instrumental in helping England reach the Women’s World Cup final, where they were defeated by Spain earlier this month.

Villa’s Daly had a great season last year, scoring 22 goals in the Women’s Super League. Daly played left defender for the Lionesses during their victorious 2022 Euros campaign.

Sam Kerr, Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, and Ona Batlle were up against the 31-year-old for the victory.