Haaland wins PFA Player of the Year award

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scooped the PFA Players' Player of the Year award on Tuesday after his stellar first season with the treble winners.

England and Aston Villa star Rachel Daly won the women's prize, voted for by fellow players.

Organised by the Professional Footballers' Association, the awards salute the best male and female players in English football in 2023.

Haaland enjoyed a stunning debut season for City, hitting 52 goals in all competitions as Pep Guardiola's men won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

The 23-year-old saw off competition from team-mates John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as from Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard and former Tottenham striker Harry Kane, now at Bayern Munich.

"It's an honour to win this prestigious award. To be recognised by your competitors is a great feeling and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me," Haaland said.

"It was an unforgettable season for the team and for me personally. Winning the treble was something I never imagined, so to achieve that with such a special group of players was an amazing feeling.

"We created some incredible memories last season, but now we want to do the same again this year. We have started the season well and we need to keep going."

Saka was voted the men's Young Player of the Year while Chelsea's Lauren James picked up the women's award.

Daly and James were key performers for England in their run to the Women's World Cup final, which ended in defeat against Spain earlier this month.

Villa's Daly scored 22 goals in the Women's Super League last season, a remarkable achievement for a player who featured at left-back in the Lionesses' successful Euros campaign in 2022.

The 31-year-old beat off competition from Sam Kerr, Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw and Ona Batlle.

/KN/