Kevin de Bruyne has been named the surprise winner of the PFA Player of the Year award, with fans expecting Ruben Dias or Harry Kane to lift the award.
De Bruyne’s excellent season for Manchester City in the 2019/20 season earned him the crown of Player of the Year, despite City finishing 18 points behind champions Liverpool.
This season the award was expected to go to teammate Dias, who transformed City’s defence this season and won the FWA’s version of the award, or Kane, who finished the season as the league’s top scorer and assister, despite a poor season from Tottenham Hotspur.
However on Sunday it was announced that the Belgian midfielder had become only the third man to ‘defend’ the award, after Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo, despite starting just 23 games this season.
🏆 The PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award 2021 | @DeBruyneKev 👏
🙌🙌🙌 @ManCity @BelRedDevils #PFAawards #POTY #deviltime 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/wQlUuv8cCU
— Professional Footballers’ Association (@PFA) June 6, 2021
Very honoured and proud to receive this award twice in a row! 🏆 @PFA pic.twitter.com/H47FZPOLM3
— Kevin De Bruyne (@DeBruyneKev) June 6, 2021
Whilst the 29-year-old was basking in his impressive achievement, fans on social media were not too impressed with the players’ decision to vote for the former Chelsea player.
Harry Kane had more goal contributions than Kevin De Bruyne had appearances. Awful decision.
— LP (@thfclp__) June 6, 2021
Harry Kane had the same amount of goals as Kevin de Bruyne had starts in the Premier League this season (23). Day light robbery. pic.twitter.com/6pi90FnRM6
— G (@thfcgi) June 6, 2021
How on EARTH did Kevin De Bruyne win PFA Player of the Year ahead of Harry Kane? Shouldn’t even be a debate. 23 goals and 14 assists — most goals and assists in one season. Unbelievable.
— Noz Ahmed (@NozAhmed) June 6, 2021
Kevin de Bruyne 😂🙏
PFA player of the year.
Salah wasn’t even nominated… pic.twitter.com/jWOZHDMF9z— El Niño🇮🇳 (@suppandiiii) June 6, 2021
Kevin de bruyne missed a third of the season through injury.
Make it Make Sense. pic.twitter.com/CNZD1Ylz2x
— Nishil (@nishil_12) June 6, 2021
Kevin De Bruyne only started in 23 league games….
— LTArsenal™ (@ltarsenal) June 6, 2021
De Bruyne is a fantastic talent but he shouldn’t have even been in the top 5 for PFA Player of the Year. Winning it ahead of Dias, Kane, Fernandes etc is a tad absurd #POTY
— Paul Philbin 🏁 (@PaulPhilbin91) June 6, 2021
Harry Kane literally won the Golden Boot AND the Playmaker award for a team that finished SEVENTH.
There’s no excuse for De Bruyne to win PFA Player of the Season over him.
— RC 🇯🇲 (@ReeceAC_) June 6, 2021
Premier league PFA player of the year is Kevin De Bruyne. I’ve got to say I feel really sorry for Dias Kane and Bruno but all three deserved it in their own way. I think this is an absolute farce if I’m honest. He wasn’t key to city winning the league in the winning run. pic.twitter.com/U6k1mnsBVZ
— IG: interesting_football_views (@InterestingFoo2) June 6, 2021
De Bruyne’s teammate Phil Foden, who had a huge breakout season for Guardiola’s team, won the Young Player of the Year award.
Featured Image Credit: PFA