De Bruyne equals Ronaldo, Henry with PFA Player of the Year double
Kevin De Bruyne has been voted Player of the Year as Manchester City enjoyed a hat trick of awards in the Professional Footballers’ Association.
De Bruyne, who also won the PFA award last year, joins prestigious company because only five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and World Cup winner Thierry Henry have previously won it twice in a row.
read also:Kevin De Bruyne named PFA Player of the Year
City midfielder De Bruyne is joined by teammate Phil Foden who was voted Young Player of the Year after the club won the Premier League title and Carabao Cup while Women’s Young Player of the Year was City’s, Lauren Hemp.
Chelsea’s Fran Kirby won the main’s women’s award as her club won the Women’s Super League and also reached the Champions League final with the winners announced at a virtual event on Sunday night.
City midfielder De Bruyne said: “The fact that players chose me for this award means that I’ve done really well.
“You want to win all the trophies with the team, and this is probably the most important one as an individual trophy in the league.
“To be voted by your competitors, by players you compete with every game, to choose you, that says a lot.
“They’re the people in my view who know most about the game. When you have these things, you can show your kids and say ‘Look, this is what daddy did when he was younger.'”
England star Foden has also enjoyed a remarkable season as he has become a regular for City and is also now pushing to start for the Eurps.
Foden said: “I’m really honoured. There have been some great players in the past who have won it, and I feel really lucky because there have been so many great young talents this year.
“It’s a special moment. I’d like to thank my parents, all of the coaches and the players as well, because without them creating chances for me, I wouldn’t score and maybe wouldn’t win the awards. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”
It is a remarkable clean sweep for City as Ruben Dias also won the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year.
Kirby added: “To win this award is really special, I think what we’ve achieved this season is incredible.”
Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson also presented a PFA Merit Award to outgoing PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor after 40 years of service to the union.
Ferguson said: “I would like to thank him for all the help he gave me in my time at United and even back in my days in Scotland when Gordon first started.”