MANCHESTER CITY DEFENDER Ruben Dias has been voted the Premier League’s player of the year for 2020-21.
The 24-year-old Portugal international played a crucial role in City’s title-winning campaign after joining from Benfica in September, as well as helping Pep Guardiola’s men claim the Carabao Cup and reach the Champions League final.
In 32 league appearances, Dias contributed to 15 clean sheets, made 35 interceptions, 24 tackles, 23 blocks and 135 recoveries.
Last month he was named the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year, and he is among the Professional Footballers’ Association’s player of the year nominees.
The nominees Dias beat to take the Premier League award were his City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne, who won it last year, Bruno Fernandes, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Mason Mount, Mohamed Salah and Tomas Soucek.
A public vote was combined with those of the 20 club captains and a panel of football experts to determine the winner.
Dias is the fourth defender to take the award, emulating Nemanja Vidic, former City captain Vincent Kompany and Virgil Van Dijk.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, won the managerial award for a third time, having also done so on the other two occasions he guided City to the Premier League title, in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The other nominees were United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers, West Ham’s David Moyes and Leeds’ Marcelo Bielsa.
