Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez wins fans' Player of the Year award

Alexis Sanchez

London: Arsenal dynamo Alexis Sanchez was on Tuesday announced as the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Fans' Player of the Year after an excellent first season in English football.


Alexis Sanchez. Pic/AFP

Sanchez, 26, joined Arsenal from Barcelona last year in a reported £35 million ($53.9 million, 49.5 million euros) deal and has been an instant hit, scoring 16 Premier League goals and supplying eight assists. His performances saw him named on the six-man shortlist for the PFA's Player of the Year award, which went to Chelsea's Eden Hazard.

But the Chile international beat Hazard and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero to the fans' award in a public poll that received over 200,000 votes. Later on Tuesday he was also named Facebook's inaugural Player of the Year winner in which over a million votes were cast globally. Sanchez beat off Hazard, again, and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.

In a poll monopolised by the two north London clubs in the Premier League, Spurs Harry Kane won Young Player of the Year while Arsenal's Arsene Wenger won the manager award and Arsenal, who defend their FA Cup trophy in this weekend's final against Aston Villa, the team of the year despite finishing third in the league table 12 points adrift of champions Chelsea.