The best of 2023 awards: Haaland takes over the Premier League, Messi breaks America | OneFootball

It’s been an eventful 2023, so we’ve looked back at the best the year had to offer – and picked out one donkey while we were at it.

Player of the Year

No player has ever taken the Premier League by storm quite like Erling Haaland. The Manchester City striker’s list of records after just one season is ridiculous.

The Norwegian became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in three successive home games, and he’s the quickest player to score three hat-tricks. He became the fastest player to reach 20 Premier League goals before breaking the single season record for most goals (36). Oh, and he won the Treble.

Haaland continued where he left off this season, scoring 14 goals in 15 Premier League appearances while also netting five in five in the Champions League.

Injury prevented him from topping the world scoring scoring charts for the calendar year, but we can’t imagine he’s worried about that after everything he’s accomplished in 2023.

Goal of the Year

There have been a plethora of incredible goals scored this year, but we are suckers for a good overhead kick. Enter Manchester United starlet Alejandro Garnacho.

Assist of the Year

The record books say it isn’t an assist, but we call bull on that. After all, how can you not give Alexander Isak all of the credit for this Newcastle United goal against Everton back in April?

The Swede led the Toffees defence on a merry dance from close to the halfway line on the left flank before he cut into the box and somehow kept the ball in play, allowing him to play in Jacob Murphy for a simple tap-in.

But because the ball slightly deflected off an opponent on its way to his teammate, it didn’t go down as an assist. Where’s the justice in this world?! Hopefully we’ve provided some for Isak.

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Transfer of the Year

We’re not to judge the best transfer of the year – how can you reasonably say a transfer is a success in less than a year? – but rather we’re only considering the biggest, most-headline-grabbing moves of 2023.

And based on that criteria, you can’t look past Lionel Messi.

The Argentine was the hottest free agent in the game in the summer after PSG decided they were not going to extend his contract, kickstarting a transfer race between his former club Barcelona, MLS outfit Inter Miami and the Saudi Pro League.

The sentimental pull of his former club was strong while Saudi Arabia offered the chance to earn an astronomical sum of money and resume rivalries with Cristiano Ronaldo. But David Beckham and co. had already put in the legwork and convinced Messi the move to Florida was the right one for him.

The 2022 World Cup winner was box office from the moment he stepped onto American soil, scoring an injury-time winner on his debut. It didn’t take long for him to claim his first trophy, beating Nashville in the Leagues Cup final in August, before claiming his eighth Ballon d’Or in October.

Breakout Star of the Year

Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of football could have predicted that Jude Bellingham was a sure thing. But few would have guessed he would become a bona fide superstar this early in his career.

The 20-year-old completed an £88m transfer to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, making him the third-most expensive English player of all time.

In 21 appearances between La Liga and the Champions League, Bellingham has already scored 17 goals and provided five assists. Very few players have made such an instant impact at the Bernabeu.

There is so much pressure that comes with wearing that white shirt, yet the former Birmingham City midfielder looks at ease in his new surrounds.

Donkey of the Year

Plenty of footballers decided that money was more important than their morals when moving to the nascent Saudi Pro League in the last year, but none of them trampled on their own legacy quite like Jordan Henderson.

The Sunderland native swapped Liverpool for Al-Ettifaq in the summer, bringing to a close a highly successful 12-year stint at Anfield. Frankly, it suited the club to sell him on; he’s a couple of years past his prime and a midfield refresh was much needed. And he got a nice fat payoff in the process.

But Henderson proceeded to insult our intelligence, claiming he didn’t do it for the money, he just wanted to grow the game. Spare me.

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Worst of all, the 33-year-old opened himself up to accusations of engaging in virtue signalling after being a vocal ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Homosexuality and the gender expression of trans people are criminalised in Saudi Arabia, where sentences include a maximum penalty of death.

Wow. Heroic stuff.

Jordan Henderson should be remembered as one of Liverpool’s greatest captains who stood up for marginalised communities, but many won’t see him that way after this. Perhaps it’s fitting that he is playing out the rest of his career in obscurity in west Asia, on a team that can barely scrape a positive result.

Read – The Premier League teams who have regressed this season

See Also – The most improved teams in the Premier League this season

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