Haaland wins Premier League Golden Boot as De Bruyne takes Playmaker award

The 2022–23 Premier League Golden Boot has been officially awarded to Erling Haaland.

The league-leading striker couldn’t add to his total of 36 goals because he was benched as Manchester City’s season ended with a 1-0 loss at Brentford.

Kevin De Bruyne, who was completely left out of the team against Brentford, wins the Playmaker accolade for most assists with 16.

Haaland, who is only 22 years old and is playing in his first season after joining Borussia Dortmund last summer, has already broken the record for most goals scored in a single league season with 35, surpassing Alan Shearer’s 35-goal mark.

Haaland wins Premier League Golden Boot Source: Manchester City

He ends the season six goals ahead of his nearest rival, Harry Kane, who had a strong season despite playing for a struggling Tottenham team and finished the season with 30 following his two goals against Leeds.

Haaland’s list of honors keeps expanding, and the Golden Boot is only the most recent addition. He was also the first player to win both Player of the Season and Young Player of the Year at the Premier League’s annual awards.

Haaland won the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year award in early May as well. On Sunday, he wins his first Premier League championship with Manchester City.

The Norwegian will now focus on the impending cup finals between City and Inter Milan in the Champions League and Manchester United in the FA Cup, as the Premier League champions attempt to complete an unprecedented Triple Crown.

De Bruyne wins Playmaker of the Year Award Source: Manchester City

As well De Bruyne, 31, has had another outstanding season in the City midfield and has once more established himself as a key component of his team’s success.

On Thursday night, Haaland mentioned De Bruyne while insisting that he couldn’t succeed alone.

‘I have to thank my team-mates, without the passes of Kevin [De Bruyne], the passes I’ve been getting this year it would not be possible,’ he said.

‘I just have to thank all the staff at the club and my team-mates for making this possible.’

‘If Manchester City play well the striker is going to score goals. Last year they scored I don’t know how many goals, so as a striker coming in of course I would score goals.’

Haaland also cited his bicycle kick versus Southampton as his ‘favorite’ of the 52 goals he has scored for Man City this year.