By Sulaimon Jamiu
Mohammed Salah has been voted by the Football Writers’ Association as the Footballer of the Year for the second time in his Liverpool career.
The Egyptian, who also won the prize in 2017/18, is only the ninth player to earn the award more than once. Tim Finney, Danny Blanchflower, Stanley Matthews, Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes, Gary Lineker and Cristiano Ronaldo also won two FWA Footballer Of The Year awards.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is currently the only man who has won the prize on three occasions.
Salah won the latest award by a landslide, taking 48% of the vote. Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne came second, ahead of West Ham’s ace, Declan Rice in third.
News of Salah’s victory comes as no surprise. He is currently the leading scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals has also provided more assists, 13, than any other player in this campaign.
On the other hand, Chelsea forward Sam Kerr was named as the FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year on Friday.
Australia international Kerr received 40% of the vote to finish ahead of Arsenal star and previous winner Vivianne Miedema. Man City’s Lauren Hemp came third.
FWA chair Carrie Brown said in a statement as reported by ESPN that: “Both Mo and Sam have been outstanding this season, breaking records for both club and country.
“As well as their performances on the pitch, they are leaders and standard bearers of excellence at their clubs and respective leagues.
“The fact they have won by such convincing margins underlines just how impressive they have been this season which has been recognized by our members.”
Both Salah and Kerr will receive their trophies from the FWA on May 5.
