Manchester City record striker Erling Haaland has been named the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for the 2022/23 season.
The 23-year-old has been relentless in front of goal, scoring 52 goals in 53 matches in all competitions, as Pep Guardiola’s side have won an outstanding treble in the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Haaland was ranked top scorer in both competitions, with 12 goals in Europe and 36 in the Premier League, a new record.
The Norwegian beat teammate Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
Voting result
1 Erling Haaland (Norway and Manchester City) – 352 points
2 Lionel Messi (Argentina and Paris, now at Inter Miami) – 227 points
3 Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium and Manchester City) – 225 points
4 Ilkay Gundogan (Germany and Manchester City, now at Barcelona) – 129 points
5 Rodri (Spain and Manchester City) – 110 points
6 Kylian Mbappé (France and Paris) – 82 points
7 Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid) – 33 points
8 Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia and Inter, now with Al-Nassr) – 20 points
9 Declan Rice (England and West Ham, now at Arsenal) – 14 points
10 Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina and Brighton, now at Liverpool) – 12 points
eleven Jesus Navas (Spain and Sevilla) – 6 points
Why did Haaland win the vote?
Haaland couldn’t stop scoring in his first season at City, amassing an impressive 12 Champions League goals – four more than his immediate rival Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – to become the third player to score five goals in a match. He added to this a Premier League record of 36, including four hat-tricks.
The Norwegian star also became the youngest and fastest player to score a total of 35 Champions League goals and won his first league medal in that competition, adding to those he had won when City won the Premier League and FA Cup.
2022/23 in numbers
Achievements
Champion of the UEFA Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
UEFA Champions League
Matches: 11
Goals: 12
Gears: 1
Man of the Match awards: 1
domestic league
Matches: 37
Goals: 36
Gears: 8
Three of his best games
Manchester City – Leipzig 7-0
Haaland won Manchester City’s round of 16 second leg, becoming the third player to score five goals in a Champions League game after Lionel Messi and Luis Adriano.
Manchester City – Bayern Munich 3-0
Manchester City crushed Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals thanks to an inspired Haaland. Bernardo Silva performed a great cross with his head and scored a great volley at point-blank range.
Manchester City – Manchester United 6-3
In Haaland’s first season at Manchester, he scored six hat-tricks, one of them in his first local derby. The Norwegian became the first player to score three consecutive hat-tricks at home in the Premier League before assisting Phil Foden (who also scored three) for City’s sixth.
How was he chosen?
The initial roster of players has been selected by the UEFA Technical Study Group based on their performance in the 2022/23 season at both club and national level.
The three nominees who received the most votes were selected by a jury composed of the coaches of the clubs participating in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League group stages, as well as the coaches of the men’s national teams. teams from UEFA member associations. The jury also included a group of journalists selected by European Sports Media (ESM).
Coaches and journalists were asked to select the top three players from the shortlist, giving them five, three and one points, respectively. The final result was determined by the total number of votes cast by coaches and journalists. Coaches could not vote for the players of their team.
Other winners of the 2022/23 season
Coach of the Year: Pep Guardiola
Player of the Year: Aitana Bonmati
Coach of the Year: Sarina Wigman
UEFA President’s Award: Miroslav Klose
Who was the winner last year?
Karim Benzema has been named the UEFA Player of the Year for the 2021/22 season. after winning the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and the UEFA Nations League with France. His record 15 Champions League goals (including ten in the play-offs) earned him the top spot in the tournament’s scoring rankings. A 27th-place finish in the Spanish league also helped him break the record in domestic competitions.