Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne wins PFA Player of the Year award

Belgian midfielder only the third player to win award in consecutive years

Kevin De Bruyne scored 10 goals and provided 18 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions for Manchester City this season. Reuters

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was on Sunday named the PFA Player of the Year, becoming only the third player to win the award for two consecutive seasons.

Following in the footsteps of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo, De Bruyne receives the award in recognition for another stellar campaign in which the Belgian was integral to City's runaway Premier League title triumph and the club's fourth successive League Cup.

De Bruyne, 29, also played a key role in City's march to the Champions League final, although his involvement in the game against Chelsea was cut short after a collision with Antonio Rudiger left him with with two fractures to his face. He is now racing to be fit for the start of Belgium's Euro 2020 campaign, which starts against Russia on Saturday.

"You want to win all the trophies with the team and then obviously if you win a trophy like this, this is probably the most important one as an individual trophy in the league," De Bruyne said.

"To be voted by your competitors who you compete with every game, that says a lot. They are the people, in my view, who know the most about the game and they are trying to get to the best level.

"When you have these things, you can show your kids and say, 'Look, this is what daddy did when he was younger'."

De Bruyne scored 10 goals and provided 18 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions for City this season. He was joined on the six-player shortlist by City teammates Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and Ruben Dias as well as Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

Dias was crowned the Football Writers' Association player of the year, while Foden capped a superb campaign by being named PFA men's young player of the year.

Chelsea's Mason Mount, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, West Ham's Declan Rice and Manchester United's Mason Greenwood were all on the shortlist for the young player prize.

"I'm really honoured," Foden said in a PFA video. "There have been some great players in the past that have won it and I feel really lucky to win it because there have been so many great young talents this year. It's a special moment."

_________________

Manchester City 2020/21 season player ratings