Mahrez (L) and Salah (R) are the only African players to win the PFA Player of the Year award
GhanaWeb Feature by Benjamin Sackey
Some African players have written their names in the history books of the Premier League, having managed to win the most prestigious award in the competition.
Despite numerous players excelling during their stint in the league, only Egyptian, Mohamed Salah and Algerian, Riyad Mahrez have been able to grab the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award.
Both players managed to win the Premier League title with Liverpool and Leicester City, respectively, with sterling performances that caught the attention of fans and players.
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This GhanaWeb Sports feature highlights how the two players won the award
Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award
The Professional Footballers’ Association Men’s Players’ Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best player in English football.
The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season, and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players’ trade union, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).
The award is regarded by players in the Football League as the highest accolade available to them due to it being picked by their fellow professionals.
Each member of the association votes for two players. A shortlist of nominees is published in April, and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA’s other annual awards, is announced at a gala in London.
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Mohamed Salah
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah clinched the 2024/2025 PFA Player of the Year award. This remarkable feat makes the Egyptian the first player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award three times, cementing his legacy.
Unsurprisingly, he was also listed in the player-voted PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
Salah registered 29 league goals and a career-best 18 assists – only Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry have surpassed that number in the history of the Premier League.
The 2024/25 landmark campaign was among the 33-year-old’s best to date. It was enough to claim his fourth Golden Boot and second Premier League title for the Reds. An impressive feat for the forward who dominated this year’s voting by the PFA membership.
Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Mahrez won the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award in the 2015/2016 season while playing for Leicester City.
Mahrez scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in 34 league games to take Leicester to the title.
He held off competition from Harry Kane, Mesut Özil, Dimitri Payet, and his then-Leicester teammates Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kanté to clinch the accolade.
Speaking to the media upon receiving the award, Mahrez said, “All the credit is for my teammates, seriously, and for my manager and the staff. Without them, I wouldn’t receive this award, and I wouldn’t score. It’s the team spirit, and I want to dedicate it to them.”
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