By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
ANKARA (AA) - French football club Lille’s Turkish forward Burak Yilmaz has been named the player of the French Ligue 1 2020-21 season, the club announced on Friday.
In a statement, Lille said Yilmaz secured 52.5% of the fans’ votes, followed by Mike Maignan with 28.7% and Benjamin Andre with 9.6% .
"King (Burak Yilmaz) definitely won the hearts of Lille fans. Burak Yilmaz, who scored 18 goals in all competitions, 16 of which was in Ligue 1, became the player of the season after being selected as the player of the team for the months of December and April," the statement said.
Despite having an injury during the season, Yilmaz contributed greatly to his team's championship race, especially with the goals he scored in the last weeks of the league.
Being the top scorer of his team, Yilmaz produced 16 goals and five assists in 28 games in the league this season.
He became the second top scorer after Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo among footballers aged 35 and over in Europe's top five leagues.
Scorer of 187 goals throughout his career in the Turkish Super Lig, Yilmaz was also the top scorer in two seasons of the league.