Kevin De Bruyne has hailed the 'unsung hero' of Manchester City's push for a record fourth straight league title as 38-goal striker Erling Haaland.
While Phil Foden was named the Football Writer's Footballer of the Year and Rodri has gained fresh plaudits for his enduring class in midfield, Haaland has slipped under the radar. After plundering a record-breaking 52 goals from 53 games in his Treble-winning debut season with City, it was always going to be hard for Haaland to repeat those heroics.
But the Norway international still has 27 goals in the Premier League this season, including both in City's 2-0 win at Tottenham on Tuesday which has left Pep Guardiola's side one win away from a fourth successive league title triumph.
Haaland has the chance to break the 40-goal barrier for the season on Sunday, despite missing two months of the season through injury, when City host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium in their final game of the campaign.
He has all but won the Golden Boot for the second season running, with a five-goal advantage over nearest challenger Cole Palmer, with City midfielder De Bruyne singling out Haaland for special praise after another goal-laden campaign. “The season he had last year and the numbers were so incredible and ridiculous,” said De Bruyne.
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“When you have a season where it’s a little bit less, people don’t appreciate what you’ve done. But he’s now on 27 goals and probably going to win the Golden Boot again. It’s incredible. He’s been amazing again and he’ll always do what he does.
“For Player of the Season, if I look at our team, I’d say either Phil or Rodri, because of their importance. There are also some really good players in other teams – at Arsenal, there’s been a few, and Ollie Watkins has been amazing for Aston Villa.”
Haaland's goals in midweek put City within a whisker of the title (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)De Bruyne reckons City deserve ultimate respect for getting to the brink of a record-breaking fourth title on the spin. Guardiola's reigning champions have a two-point lead over Arsenal heading into Sunday's final round of fixtures.
Victory over West Ham will see City retain their crown and become the first side to win four in a row – something that proved beyond Sir Alex Ferguson's great Manchester United sides. De Bruyne said: "You have to appreciate what you do throughout the whole year to be in this situation.
"People always talk about trophies, but we work for 11 months to get to this situation and if you don't enjoy it along the way, what does it really mean? That one game, if we win or don't win, it's not going to change how I feel how well we did this season.
"I know there's a lot of talk afterwards, but the way I see it is that this team has done incredible after the successes we've had in the last few years. It's credit to the whole team to be in this situation again.”
De Bruyne said he never dreamed of winning five league titles when he joined City back in 2015 – now he is on the brink of a sixth. "When I came here, it was a very different team,” said De Bruyne. “A team full of legends who won before and an older team.
"In Pep's first season, a lot of people were in their 30s, so we needed a rebuild and I was probably one of the first pieces at the time. I would have never expected to win five titles, or all the things we have done. It's been pretty incredible.”
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