Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has won the England Men’s Player of the Year award for the first time. It comes after a stellar season for his club and country.
England are due to play Italy in Milan tonight (Friday) as they look to recover from a poor UEFA Nations League campaign so far. Saka is expected to be in the mix for a starting place after becoming one of Gareth Southgate’s key players.
The 21-year-old beat the likes of Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane and West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice to the award, having shown a superb display of his talent over the course of the past year. He’s already picked up his form this season too, finding the net once and registering four assists in Arsenal’s opening seven Premier League games.
He was presented the award by a group of young local grassroots players. The England star had no idea that it was to be awarded to him, and in his grateful shock, he smiled and humbly said: “No way. I did not expect this honestly, so yeah, I’m honoured. It’s really nice.”
Saka’s club side currently top the new season’s table and he will be hoping that is a good sign of things to come. For now though, he’ll take pride in being named the best in his country for 2021/22 and will understandably be focused on performing for the Three Lions against both Italy and Germany in the coming week.
