Eden Hazard: Best Belgian player in a foreign league for the third year running
The Real Madrid forward, who faced competition from De Bruyne and Lukaku, wins the annual award presented by HLN for the third consecutive year.
Eden Hazard has been elected the best Belgian player to be playing in a league outside of his homeland for the third year running. The Real Madrid winger fended off fierce compettion to pick up the Golden Shoe award, presented annually by Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN). Hazard gained more votes than Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne and Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku - ending on 458 points, ahead of his nearest rivals, De Bruyne on 348 and Lukaku on 248. Still recovering from injury, Hazard was unable to attend this evening's ceremony in person but accepted his award via video link and graciously acknowledged the merits of his fellow players.
Here is how the final ranking ended:
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea / Real Madrid) 458
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 348
- Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United / Inter Milan) 248
- Youri Tielemans (Leicester) 87
- Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund) 78
- Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) 58
- Dries Mertens (Napoli) 52
- Divock Origi (Liverpool) 51
- Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham) 50
- Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Mönchengladbach / Borussia Dortmund) 49