Erling Haaland wins Football Writers' Association Footballer of Year award

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Manchester City star Erling Haaland has won the prestigious Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year award.

"Haaland won by a huge margin after his sensational debut season in England, scoring 51 goals so far for Manchester City as they aim for a remarkable treble," the association said in a statement.

Haaland was followed by Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard came in third. Kevin De Bruyne of City came in fourth, with Manchester United's Marcus Rashford taking fifth place.

The 22-year-old broke another record, polling 82% of FWA members' votes, the biggest margin since the English Premier League kicked off.

The Norwegian now holds the record for most goals scored in a single Premier League season with 35 goals, ahead of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who netted 34 goals each.

Chelsea's Sam Kerr has been voted the Women's Football Writers' Association's footballer of the year respectively and became the first back-to-back winner.

The 29-year-old Australian striker polled twice as many votes as Rachel Daly of Aston Villa and England, who edged out Chelsea’s Lauren James (four votes).