Chelsea’s midfielder N’Golo Kanté has received yet another award, this time from the Football Writers’ Association (FWA).
The FWA voted the 26-year-old as the 2017 Premier League Footballer of the Year, beating competition from teammate Eden Hazard and Tottenham Hotspurs’ Dele Alli, who took second and third place respectively.
Kanté is in line to win a second consecutive Premier League title with Chelsea, after last season’s historic win with minnows Leicester City.
Chelsea signed the French international in the summer for a fee of £32m, a signing that has been hailed by most pundits as the signing of the season.
The little-talking midfielder expressed his joy at winning the award, saying it was a very special moment of his career.
“It is a fantastic honour to win this award. With so many great players in this Chelsea squad and in the Premier League, for the Football Writers’ Association of this country to name me as their Footballer of the Year is a very proud moment in my career,” he said.
Five Chelsea players were nominated by FWA members, with David Luiz, Diego Costa and César Azpilicueta also receiving votes.
The other players to receive votes were Sergio Agüero (Man City), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Sunderland), Ben Foster (West Brom), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Anthony Knockaert (Brighton), David Luiz (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea).
