Will Mo Salah join this list of six players to have won the PFA Player of the Year award twice?
- Cameron Loftus
- 14 March 2022
In 2018, Mo Salah became the third non-European player to win the PFA Player of the Year award, after Luis Suarez and Riyad Mahrez, and this year he is looking a good bet to repeat his victory.
Salah has enjoyed a superb campaign and leads the Premier League goalscoring charts with 20 goals, eight ahead of team-mates Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Salah has also contributed 10 assists, just one behind Reds right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold who leads the way.
Since the PFA Player of the Year award was introduced, only six players have won the award twice. We take a look at the esteemed company Salah will join should he pick up the trophy for a second time.
Mark Hughes
Newly appointed Bradford City manager Mark Hughes became the first player to be named PFA Player of the Year a second time.
His successes in 1988/89 and 1990/91 sandwiched Aston Villa player David Platt's victory in 1989/90.
Hughes was the first Manchester United player to win the award - at the 16th time of asking - thanks to a 16-goal campaign.
Two seasons later, Hughes scored 21 goals in all competitions, including 10 in the league.
However, it was his exploits away from the First Division that helped him pick up his second award. Hughes scored both goals in the 2-1 Cup Winners' Cup final win over Barcelona in Rotterdam to help United to their first European trophy since 1968.
Alan Shearer
The Premier League's record scorer repeated fellow striker Hughes' feat less than a decade later when he won the award in the 1994/95 and 1996/97 seasons.
The first award was won at Blackburn Rovers the season they lifted the Premier League title, with his second coming at boyhood club Newcastle United two seasons later. He is still the only player to win the award for two separate clubs.
In Blackburn's title-winning campaign, Shearer bagged an incredible 34 goals. Thirty-one goals the following campaign were not enough to stop Newcastle's Les Ferdinand from winning the award. However, the two joined forces at St James' Park for the 1996/97 season, Shearer joining for a then world record £15million.
Shearer took no time in settling in, ending a third consecutive season as the Golden Boot winner with 25 goals in 31 matches. Even though he missed seven games with a hamstring injury, it was enough for Shearer to win his second PFA Player of the Year award.
Thierry Henry
Henry was the first player to win back-to-back Player of the Year awards when he did so in 2002/03 and 2003/04.
Henry's numbers in the 2002/03 season were mindblowing - 32 goals and 23 assists in all competitions - and although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League trophy, he led them to FA Cup glory.
With 20 league assists alone, Henry became the first player in the Premier League to reach this number and was also the first player to record 20+ goals and 20+ assists in a single season in Europe's top five leagues.
Henry needed to go some to better his achievements in 2003/04 but the France striker delivered as Arsenal became the first team in over a century to go a full season unbeaten, earning the nickname 'The Invincibles'.
He ended the campaign with 39 goals in all competitions, picking up both the Golden Boot and the PFA Player of the Season award for a second time.
Cristiano Ronaldo
After Henry in 2003/04, there were English winners in the shape of John Terry and Steven Gerrard before the rise of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 2006/07 season was a breakout one for the attacker who posted 23 goals and 22 assists in all competitions.
His performances saw him sweep the board, picking up the Football Writers' Award, the PFA Fans' Player of the Season, the PFA Young Player of the Season and the Premier League Player of the Season.
As with the season before, Manchester United won the Premier League title.
They went one better in 2007/08 by also winning the Champions League for the first time since the treble in 1999, overcoming Chelsea on penalties in the final.
Goals-wise, Ronaldo smashed his previous season's tally, scoring 42 in all competitions. With 31 of those coming in the league, he won the Golden Boot for the first and (so far) only time in his Premier League career.
CR7 once again collected multiple end of season awards, including the PFA Player of the Year award.
Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale became the fourth Welshman to win the award in 2011, after Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs.
After being converted from a left-back to a left-winger, the Tottenham player contributed 11 goals and the same number of assists.
His most memorable match came in the Champions League against Inter Milan at the San Siro. With his Spurs team trailing 4-0 after 35 minutes and down to ten men following the dismissal of Heurelho Gomes, Bale embarked on a one-man mission to rescue the tie, scoring his first career hat-trick. In the return match, Bale produced another man-of-the-match performance, setting up two goals as Tottenham progressed thanks to a 3-1 win.
In 2012/13 Bale won his second PFA Player of the Year award before leaving for Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of the season.
By this point, Bale was one of the stars of the Premier League and grabbed 26 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. His compendium of goal-of-the-season contenders, including mazy solo runs, long-range finishes and free-kicks, were unable to secure Tottenham a Champions League spot but did help the Welshman earn a dream move to Madrid.
Kevin De Bruyne
Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is the latest player to have been awarded the PFA Player of the Year on two occasions, having picked up the award for the past two seasons.
The 2019/20 season saw De Bruyne crowned after scoring 13 league goals, providing 20 assists and also creating 104 chances from open play - the highest number of any player in Europe's top five leagues since 2006.
The first Man City player to win the award, he doubled up last season after contributing 10 goals and 18 assists in 40 games in all competitions as City won the Premier League title and League Cup.
The 30-year-old is once again in the running to be crowned for what would be a record-breaking third time. However, it is looking far more likely that it will be Mo Salah joining him on this impressive list.
