BEVERLY HILLS, June 06, (THEWILL) – In the final batch of the individual Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Awards for the 2020/2021 campaign, champions Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been named PFA Player of the Year for the second season running and his young English teammate Phil Foden took home the PFA Young Player of the Year for the season too.
It was the best way to sign off what has been a glorious campaign for City. Both midfielders enjoyed excellent campaigns and their awards dovetail with those of another teammate, defender Ruben Dias, who dominated the earlier awards, winning the FWA and Premier League Player of the Year honours.
De Bruyne came out on top in the PFA vote for the season he had in 40 all-competitions appearances, where he registered 10 goals and helped with assists for 18 other goals. After a lethargic start that questioned City’s title credentials, the Belgian’s form helped City get back on track and call through to regain the Premier League title.
His contributions were often decisive, such as when he set up Aymeric Laporte’s winner in his side’s Carabao Cup final triumph over Tottenham, that was so painful for Spurs Son Heung-min, the South Korean was left in tears after the final whistle.
All these impressive and consistent accounts of De Bruyne’s season put together made it abundantly clear that the Belgian earned his win to make it the second consecutive year he was crowned the POTY. To De Bruyne’s credit, only Cristiano Ronaldo, in his time playing for Manchester United, had previously won the PFA POTY award twice.
It was special for De Bruyne and he expressed that gratitude in his comments after winning: “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 who you compete with every game — to choose you, that says a lot. They’re the people in my view who know the 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.”
Also speaking after winning was Foden, who won the Young Player of the Year award for what was his most remarkable campaign so far. Foden made 50 appearances in all competitions, scoring 16 times and racking up 10 assists for his teammates.
The 21-year-old said: “I’m really honoured. There have been some great players in the past that have won it, and I feel really lucky because there have been so many great young talents this year. I’m feeling really happy to win it and it’s a special moment.
”I would 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 I wouldn’t win the awards. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
