The 2021-22 Premier League season has concluded, the champions have been crowned, and the awards have been handed out. Manchester City not only grabbed the biggest prize of all – the Premier League title – on another dramatic victory on the final day, but a handful of their players also claimed a number of the top individual awards.
Meanwhile, a couple of Liverpool’s stars settled for a share of their respective awards, with Son Heung-Min tying Mohamed Salah for the Golden Boot.
Read on below as SBOTOP salutes champions Manchester City and their outstanding stars, as well as the other awardees of the 2021-22 Premier League season.
Champions: Manchester City
Manchester City successfully defended their Premier League title, although it was a bit more dramatic than many had expected. They needed to come back from two goals down to salvage a draw at West Ham, and that slip-up gave Liverpool hope heading into the last day.
But despite being overwhelming favourites according to the Premier League 2022 betting odds, City shockingly found themselves in a similar predicament as they went 2-0 down at home against Aston Villa. Once again, though, the Citizens’ championship mettle eventually shone through as they came back to win 3-2.
While it wasn’t as dramatic as the ‘Aguerooo’ game – most likely, nothing else ever will be – it was still a terrific end to another impressive title-winning campaign for Pep Guardiola and co.
Player of the Season: Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
Prior to City’s coronation, Kevin De Bruyne had already been named the Premier League Player of the Season for the second time in three years. The brilliant Belgian had his best goalscoring season in the Premier League with 15 goals, and he also added eight assists in 30 appearances.
It was a close race between De Bruyne and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, and either one would have been a worthy winner. But the Man City star was so instrumental in his side’s successful title defence, and he is without a doubt a deserving pick for the award.
Young Player of the Season: Phil Foden, Manchester City
De Bruyne’s teammate, Phil Foden, certainly has the potential to be a future Premier League Player of the Season. But for now, the 21-year-old will have to settle for the Young Player of the Season award, which he as won for the second year in a row.
Foden had another fantastic Premier League season with nine goals and five assists in 28 games – all identical numbers to last year.
With Foden well on his way to superstardom and another prodigious 21-year-old in Erling Haaland set to join next season, the present and future are very bright indeed for Manchester City.
Golden Boot: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool & Son Heung-Min, Tottenham
Mohamed Salah looked like a lock to be the sole winner of the Golden Boot this season. But Son Heung-Min had other ideas.
The Spurs star had a spectacular end to the season as he scored 12 goals in his last 10 games – including a brace on the final day against Norwich – to finish with 23 goals, which got him a share of the Golden Boot with Salah.
It was a spectacular effort from the South Korean, who becomes the first Asian to ever claim the prestigious award.
While Son was making several Premier League 2022 highlights during his sizzling hot streak, Salah definitely lost steam towards the end of the season. His goal on the last day against Wolves snapped a run of seven straight games without a goal in all competitions.
Nevertheless, no one can argue that Salah’s contributions throughout the season were crucial to Liverpool pushing the title race to the very last day. Aside from his third Golden Boot, Salah also claimed the Playmaker of the Season award with his league-leading 13 assists, which is a testament to his remarkable production for the Reds.
Golden Glove: Alisson, Liverpool & Ederson, Manchester City
And last but not least, Liverpool’s Alisson and Man City’s Ederson fittingly shared the Golden Glove award.
The two Brazilians have been the best goalkeepers in the Premier League – and, arguably, the world – for the past few years now, and they were once again on top of their game this year as they both kept 20 clean sheets this season.
This is now the fourth straight year that either of the two has won the award, with Ederson maintaining his 3-2 edge over his compatriot. And with both goalies not yet even in their 30s, it might be a long time before a non-Brazilian goalkeeper grabs the Golden Glove from them.
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