News: Saka named England player of the year
For the second year running, Bukayo Saka has been named England men's player of the year.
The Arsenal winger, who turned 22 on Tuesday, retained the award he won first in 2021-22.
Midfielder Jude Bellingham came second in the ballot, followed by England captain and all-time top scorer Harry Kane.
In the past year, Saka has scored seven goals in 10 appearances for England, including a hat-trick against North Macedonia at Old Trafford.
At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he scored three times for the Three Lions, twice against Iran in the opening group stage and once against Senegal in the last 16.
He has 11 England goals in 28 caps. The Arsenal fan favourite is again among England boss Gareth Southgate's squad for Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Ukraine and Tuesday's friendly with Scotland.
Saka will once again be an important player for England in what could be a memorable season for both club and country.
Some of the best reaction
The man himself tweeted: "Back to back, what an honour. Thank you to everybody who voted me England's Men's Player of the year. I’m very grateful."
Daniel, an Arsenal fan currently livinhg in France, told us: "Saka deserves this. He has been a fabuous player for club and country over the last year."
Lauren, a Chelsea fan, is also a regular at Wembley watching England. She provided an interesting stat, This second award brings him level with Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard, and Frank Lampard, who all won it twice as well. That shows the level he is playing at currently. Saka deserves this award, and I believe he can win several more of these awards over the next few years."
Key milestones in Saka's England career
- 2020: He made his England debut
- 2021 - Scores his first England goal
- 2022 - Named men's player of the year
- 2023 - Named men's player of the year (again)
The video below contains his three goals against North Macedonia. The YouTuber @Slayer106 commented: "That second Saka goal was something special."
