Haaland upstages Rashford to ‘Player of the Season’ award
Manchester City striker, Erling Braut Haaland, has been named the Premier League Player of the Season for 2022-23 in the annual Sports Mole Readers’ Awards.
The 22-year-old broke a plethora of records throughout an incredible debut campaign in England, including the all-time single-season scoring record in the Premier League.
Haaland netted 36 times in just 35 appearances to beat the previous mark which was jointly held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, who both scored 34 goals during 42-game Premier League campaigns.
The Norwegian’s tally helped fire Man. City to a third successive Premier League crown, and earned him a whopping 56.5 per cent of your votes for player of the year in our end-of-season awards.
Haaland, who made more history by being named the FWA Footballer of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season, finished well clear of second place, which went to Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.
Some 11.9 per cent of you voted for the England international, who enjoyed his best-ever scoring season with 30 across all competitions, 17 of which came in the league as Man. United secured a top-four finish.
Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, who spearheaded the Gunners’ unexpected title charge, finished joint-third on 9.7 per cent, while Kevin De Bruyne was marginally behind with 9.4 per cent of the votes.
Somewhat surprisingly, Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane garnered only 2.8 per cent of the votes, despite scoring 30 times in the league for a side that missed out on European football altogether. — Reuters
