And City have four players up for the Women’s PFA Young Player of the Year award with Lauren Hemp, Ellie Roebuck, Georgia Stanway and new signing Chloe Kelly all nominated.
Despite winning the Premier League four times in the past decade, no City player has ever won the PFA Player of the Year award which was first launched in 1973/74 and won by the late Leeds United great Norman Hunter.
De Bruyne and Sterling have been nominated before, with De Bruyne last up for the top PFA prize in 2018 and Sterling nominated last season along with team-mates Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero.
Though Sterling didn’t win the senior prize, he became the second successive City player to bag the PFA Young Player of the Year, with Leroy Sane winning in 2018.
This campaign, Sterling has bagged 31 goals in all competitions, while De Bruyne topped the Premier League assists charts with 20, equalling the record set by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry set in 2002/03.
KDB has already bagged a hat-trick of prestigious awards for the 2019/20 campaign after winning the public vote for Premier League Player of the Season and also the Manchester City Player of the Year award – the third time he has won the Club vote in five years - plus the Premier League Playmaker of the Season.
The top player’s award previous to the PFA Player of the Year was the prestigious Football Writers Award (FWA) – won by Sterling last season and bringing a 50-year wait for a City winner to an end.
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Prior to that, Tony Book was the last City star to win the FWA in 1969.
The journalist-voted FWA award still runs alongside the PFA honour.
For the Women’s PFA Young Player of the Year award, Georgia Stanway will be looking to retain the trophy she won last season.
However, she faces stiff competition from her team-mates in the form of Golden Glove winner Ellie Roebuck and Lauren Hemp.
Hemp, who turns 20 on Monday, won the Women’s PFA Young Player of the Year in 2018 while with Bristol City.
Chloe Kelly’s nomination is based on her season with Everton before she joined City.
The PFA Awards recognises the outstanding performers from every division and is a celebration of the achievement of all PFA members’ from the last 12 months and will be broadcast on Tuesday, 8 September, 7pm on the PFA’s social channels..
In addition to the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year categories, the PFA Premier League Team of the Year will be announced next Tuesday as well as the PFA’s Merit Award.
The full list of nominations for all categories is:
Men’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year – Nominees:
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
- Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
- Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Women’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year – Nominees:
- Beth England (Chelsea)
- Sophie Ingle (Chelsea)
- Kim Little (Arsenal)
- Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
- Guro Reiten (Chelsea)
- Ji So-Yun (Chelsea)
Men’s PFA Young Player of the Year – Nominees:
- Tammy Abraham (Chelsea)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
- Mason Mount (Chelsea)
- Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Women’s PFA Young Player of the Year – Nominees:
- Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea)
- Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
- Lauren James (Manchester United)
- Chloe Kelly (Manchester City formerly Everton)
- Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)
- Georgia Stanway (Manchester City)
Good luck to all our players!
