De Bruyne is EPL’s Best Player as Guardiola hails Liverpool’s push for title

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at the London Stadium, in London on May 15, 2022. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Kevin De Bruyne has been named the Premier League’s Player of the Season.

The Manchester City star has driven Pep Guardiola’s team to the verge of a fourth title in the space of five seasons with some sensational displays.

Despite having a rather stuttering start to the campaign after suffering an eye injury in last season’s Champions League final, and then sustaining another problem during Belgium’s Euro 2020 quarter-final defeat to Italy, the 30-year-old has gone on to score 15 goals in the Premier League so far in 2021-22.

Remarkably, those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) value of just 5.8. He has also provided seven assists.

Four of those came in City’s 5-1 thrashing of Wolves earlier in May, with De Bruyne becoming the first player since Harry Kane in May 2017 to score three goals in a Premier League game with his weak foot, while he is the first midfielder in the competition’s history to do so.

Indeed, he has contributed to 13 goals across his last nine Premier League appearances to truly take the reins of City’s title charge.

While City still need to beat Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa on the final day to ensure the title is theirs, De Bruyne’s stellar efforts have been rewarded.

The playmaker previously won the award in 2020, after matching Thierry Henry’s Premier League assists record, while a City player has taken the prize for a third successive season, with Ruben Dias having won the accolade last year.

De Bruyne’s triumph seals a fine day for City players, with Phil Foden having been