PFA Player of the Year 2022/23 nominees: Manchester City dominate the shortlist

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have released the six nominees for the Player of the Year 2022/23, with treble winners Manchester City dominating the shortlist.

Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and John Stones have been recognised for their key roles in City’s historic campaign. The club won a third consecutive Premier League title, beat rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final and secured the club’s first ever Champions League triumph.

City just beat Arsenal to the title, but the Gunners enjoyed a hugely successful season of their own. Captain Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have been named on the PFA award shortlist after exception individual seasons.

Finally, former Tottenham Hotspur man Harry Kane completes the shortlist after scoring 30 goals in an underperforming team in 2022/23. Kane left Spurs for Bayern Munich this summer but remain eligible for the PFA award.

The winner of the prestigious award will be announced on 29 August in a ceremony at London’s Lowry Theatre.

The nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year were also announced on Thursday with two players making both shortlists. In addition to Haaland and Saka; Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Evan Ferguson, Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli, and Jacob Ramsey of Aston Villa are also in the running to win the award.

PFA meaning: what does the Professional Footballers’ Association do?

The Professional Footballers’ Association is a trade union for football players in England and Wales and is currently comprised of more than 5,000 members. The body acts to protect the rights and improve working conditions for all players in the two countries and is the oldest professional sport trade union in the world.

The main FA award, also known as the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, allows members of the union to vote for the most impressive player of the previous season.

Unlike other awards, like the Football Writers Association awards, the PFA gongs are entirely based on the votes of the players themselves.

No one has ever won the won the Player of the Year award on more than two occasions, although Kevin de Bruyne could become the first to do so if he triumphed this year. He is currently tied with the likes of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alan Shearer with two PFA awards.

Last year Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah won his second PFA Player of the Year Award after scoring 23 Premier League goals in 2021/22.