Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been named the 2022-23 UEFA Men's Player of the Year.
The 22-year-old broke a plethora of goalscoring record in his debut campaign for the Citizens, who won a historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
Haaland scored a mind-boggling 52 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions, including 12 Champions League goals in just 11 games – four clear of his nearest challenger Mohamed Salah in second.
The Norwegian became both the youngest and fastest player to score 35 goals in the Champions League, doing so in just 30 matches, while he also became just the third player in the competition's history to score five goals in a single game as Man City thrashed RB Leipzig 7-0 in the last 16 in March.
Haaland fended off competition from teammate Kevin De Bruyne and former Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi to win the award, receiving 352 points in the voting system compared to 227 for Messi and 225 for De Bruyne.
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Having already received the Premier League Player & Young Player of the Year, Man City Player of the Year, FWA Player of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year awards, Haaland picked up his latest accolade from UEFA at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco following the 2023-24 Champions League group-stage draw.
"I am honoured to have been named UEFA Men's Player of the Year. There are so many top talents across Europe who could have won this award, so I am really grateful to everyone who voted for me," Haaland told mancity.com.
"We have an incredible team here at Manchester City and this accolade wouldn't have been possible without the support of my teammates, coaches and all of the staff at the club.
"It was an incredible season for all of us and for me personally after securing the treble. Lifting my first Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League was an incredible feeling and it's a feeling we all want to share again this season."
Meanwhile, Man City manager Pep Guardiola has been named the 2022-23 UEFA Coach of the Year after leading the Citizens to their first-ever Champions League trophy following triumphs in the Premier League and FA Cup.
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The 52-year-old guided Man City to eight wins and five draws in 13 matches en route to Champions League glory, and he is the first manager to win two European trebles having previously done so with Barcelona back in 2008-09.
City's impressive 4-0 semi-final second-leg triumph over Real Madrid moved Guardiola onto 100 victories in the Champions League, becoming the fastest manager to reach that landmark (160 games) compared to Carlo Ancelotti (180 games) and Sir Alex Ferguson (184 games) who are the only two other managers to have reached a century of wins in the competition to date.
Guardiola received the most votes ahead of fellow nominees Luciano Spalletti – formerly of Napoli and now in charge of Italy – and Simeone Inzaghi who led Inter Milan to their first Champions League final in over a decade; Guardiola collected a mammoth 602 voting points compared to 252 for Spalletti and 84 for Inzaghi.
The jury for all votes was composed of coaches of the clubs which participated in last season's group stages of Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, along with coaches of the men's national teams of UEFA's member associations and a group of journalists selected by the European Sports Media.
Oliver Thomas
